Fated to Live: The Soulforged
by Weener1
Summary: Prior has taken a few 'friends' on a trip to another world. Just so happens that the world is Vana'diel. Showing up in Al Zhabi while it is under attack is bad enough. Showing up and not expecting it is worse! Part 3 of the Fated to Live series
1. Falling for a Troll

Part 3! Alrighty then, I'm not gonna waste this precious space explaining who Prior is. If you decide to read this I heavily suggest reading the previous two stories in the series: "Fated to Live: Elsea,Mistaken Identity" and "Fated to Live: If I Was an Angel"

Hope ya enjoy it!

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It just keeps getting worse doesn't it? Hasn't ended yet that's for sure. Taking the girls I had met previously on a voluentary 'trip' sounded like a good idea at the time. Turns out it just ends up creating more of a mess. It's time for me to tell ya'll about Vana'diel. It just so happens we ended up there at the worst time possible. What else is new right? Regardless, I hope you enjoy.

This time the trip was a bit less stressful. It really didn't matter a whole lot where we ended up. Thing was though, it wasn't where we ended up that was bad. It was when. Green mist, falling sensation, blah, blah, blah. You know how it goes. I feel face first, straight into a flagstone courtyard. It wasn't a fall long enough to kill me, but it hurt to no end. Having the wind knocked out of me certainly dulled my senses a bit. It took me a few moments to get the sensations my eyes and ears were recieving into my brain. Screams, clashing metal on metal, magical incantation, roaring of a tremendous volume and other sounds of general battle and warfare. The sounds of war usually make me get to my feet pretty quickly. Needless to say, as I gazed about I saw exactly what I expected to see. Warriors doing battle with horrible creatures. Mages casting spells upon the same monstrosities. What I didn't see, and desperately needed to find, was the girls I had taken with me! Trying my damndest to ignore and avoid the attentions of the wierd snake women, giant troll-like things and the lizardmen I scanned the crowd of combatants quickly for any sign of my ill-fated companions. I saw no signs of them and hoped for the best. This place was too dangerous for me to simply stand around idly in. I couldn't enter the fray, like I would anyway, right? I turned my back on the action and ran my ass down the main passage of the courtyard, headed for the wooden doors on the opposite end. Two men in purple head coverings and brown and white armour, swords drawn , stood before the entrance. " The hell you think you're going? ", one asked in a gruff tone.  
I hated this place already. Wouldn't even let me leave a warzone.  
" I need to get outta here! ", I protested.  
" Like hell you will, mage! Get back out there and defend the Empress! ", the other man said and tried to shoo me away.  
" I don't even know what the hell is going on here! " ,I screamed, "I came here by accident and brought some friends and I need to find them. I need to leave! "  
" We can't open the doors while we're under attack! You're crazy! Get the hell...LOOK OUT!" ,the one man yelled,pointing over my shoulder.  
I whipped around 180 degrees to come face to...stomach...with one of the 'trolls' as I shall call them. It's stubby nose and giant floppy ears bore a resemblance to other members of the troll race I had met on other worlds. It's giant fingers curled and uncurled in anticipation of ripping my head off, or so I would assume.  
"Get back, mage!" ,the same man told me and pushed me to the side as he thrust foward with his elegantly curved sword. His companion joined the battle with this tremendous foe also. The man's lunge was slapped aside by the troll's heavy fist. The warrior stumbled and fell to the ground. His companion stepped over his body and took a swing at the troll's midsection. This slice left a small red welt forming on the troll's brown skin. The troll roared in anger and swung his hand, palm open, towards the man. The soldier held up his sword in a last ditch effort for defense. This did absolutely nothing to keep him from being sent flying across the courtyard and landing with a sickening crunch against the wall a few meters away. The beast grinned in the way only a monster can. I decided to take action. The one man was still sprawled on the ground before me. With a few quick movements I reached the man and pulled him to his feet. He shook off my grasp and took up a fighting stance before this foe. The troll grinned once more and lifted it's dirty, calloused foot. As it's foot landed upon the ground a great tremor shook the earth. It was strong enough to knock me off my feet and send me falling to the ground. I lay there dazed and listened to another horrible crunching sound. The man was dead, I knew it. I didn't even have to look. A deep shadow fell over my downed form. I was gonna die, I knew it. Not only was I going to die, I was going to die and all the girls were going to die. I would be responsible! I couldn't let that happen. I scrambled to my feet, still a bit disoriented and quite covered in dust. I stared the troll down, reading it's beady eyes. All it knew was war. Poor thing. Yea, poor thing...It then reared back it's fist and struck me square in the midsection. I didn't even attempt to dodge it. It would have proved impossible. Hell, I didn't even have the time to hold my stomach in pain. Everything simply went black and that was that.

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Well, that's chapter one! Suspenseful? maybe,but it gets better trust me! I just have to write it first.

-peace


	2. The Little Helper

Chapter 2! I warn you now, this chapter starts the crossover. I'm not going to ruin the crossover,but I do suggest you read Part 2 in this series first: "Fated to Live: If I Were an Angel"

If you don't like crossovers..well, this series is full of it so...take it or leave it.

Enjoy.

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The deep blackness cleared after a time. What I expected to see was the ceiling of a warm, cozy room, hot nurses at my every beck and call, and the girls I had brought here safe and sound. Alas, it couldn't be further from where I actually was. The first thing I remember is feeling hot, very hot. Next, my eyes cracked open are were flooded with a ominous orange light. Opening them wider I noticed metal bars blocking my vision. "A cage. Great" , I thought to myself.  
A cage most likely meant I was a prisoner. Of course it meant I was a prisoner. People don't keep honoured guests in cages that's for damn sure. My head throbbed. The only thing that hurt more than my head was my stomach. I remembered the punch I took and I surprised myself that I didn't straight up die. I moaned and groaned as I rolled onto my back. Staring at the cage's black ceiling I wondered how long it would be before they decided to eat me. The trolls that is, or whatever one of the nasty beast people had taken me. "Oh! You're awake!" , came the voice of what I could only assume was a goddess come to tell me I was actually dead and I need not worry any longer.  
Upon hearing this sweet female voice I attempted to sit up. Bad idea. Getting halfway up I immediately let out a yell of pain and fell onto my side. I clutched my injured stomach, what more could I do? "Mr. Prior! Are you ok!" , came the concerned voice of the female. I knew this voice. I tried to think through the clouds of pain and put a face on the voice. After a moment it hit me.  
"Kaorin?" , I said weakly.  
"Yes, it's me.", she said,hoisting me into a sitting position. She did so with such grace and skill that I didn't feel a mote of pain. "Where's everyone else?" ,I gasped for breath.  
"I..I don't know...", she said with a nervous shiver, "I hope Miss Sakaki is alright"  
"You didn't see where they took them?", I asked.  
"No!" ,she sobbed and broke into tears.  
" Now, Kaorin,", I attempted to comfort her, "We have to be brave. We can't be crying. If we cry and puss out and whine we're just going to get ourselves killed"  
" But..But..", she sputtered between bouts of sobs, " Those...creatures took me...they..ohh...I fainted and now I'm in a cage and I dunno where everyone else is and..I should have never agreed to come with you!" ,she said with an attempt at anger.  
"You can't blame me. Not fully at least. You agreed. Hell, do you think I want to be in this cage? We have to plan, Kaorin. The faster we can escape, the faster we can find the others." ,I said confidently.  
You need to be confident around cowards. With this situation there is no other choice. It's either do or die, and I sure as hell wasn't going to rot in this cell.  
She gave a long sigh and a sniffle. I wiped away the tears that were running down her pale cheeks. "Ok, Mr. Prior. We should try and escape. Staying put would probably be a mistake.", she agreed.  
"Excellent." , I said as I painfully got to my feet. The cage was cylindrical and it allowed me to see the rest of the room. The room, or cave since it was hewn from rock, was fairly circular and contained three other cages. Only one of which contained another prisoner. This prisoner though was still unconcious upon the floor of the cell. No guards of any sort were in sight and that was very surprising. I had never been in a prison before that didn't have guards watching the cells all day and all night.  
I looked around for any means of escape. The lock on the cell door looked pretty fragile and rusted. I grinned and began to shake the bars violently. The clattering was tremendous, but the lock didn't budge.  
"Shit.", I cursed.  
Kaorin was standing beside me then and peering at the lock herself.  
"Any ideas?" ,I asked.  
"Actually, yes.", she said, "There's an urban legend on Earth that says you can pick a lock with a bobby pin"  
"A bobby what?", I asked, confused.  
She reached into her black hair.  
"This.",she said, holding up a small black hair clamp..thingy.  
I took the odd metal object from her fingers.  
"So I just...umm..", I said, confused as what to do to the lock with this mechanism.  
" The myth says to just push it in and try and seperate two things inside of the lock.", she looked as confused as me.  
"Ok, then." ,I said unenthusiastically and inserted the pin into the keyhole.  
I felt around inside for two things I could possibly seperate when the entire cell door fell to the ground with a loud clamour and took me with it. I crashed atop the metal bars and rolled off of them onto my back.  
"What the hell?" ,I questioned still lying on my back.  
"The hinges..rusted off." ,Kaorin told me as she gingerly stepped from the cell and onto the rock.  
"Help me up, will ya?", I asked her.  
She helped me to my feet without much pain. This was certainly looking up. A teenage girl and a lost priest stuck in a very hot, very dangerous place looking for their friends without getting mutilated. This was definately on my "To Do" list.  
"Might as well...", I began, but was interrupted by a high pitched voice.  
" Hey, Help me out of here"  
I looked over my shoulder to see the prisoner I had seen earlier awake and standing at the bars of his cage. He couldn't have been more than three feet tall with large ears and a cute, almost animal-like, face.  
He wore a red robe stitched with a complex white pattern that nearly went down to his ankles.  
"How?" ,I asked the strange being.  
"Knock the door out. I don't care. Just gimme outta here!." ,the little thing squeaked as it jumped up and down.  
"Umm..", I hesitated.  
"AWW! He's so cute! Prior, go let him out!" ,Kaorin said, face flushed with heat and adoration for this adorable being.  
"Fine,fine", I said as I trotted over to his cage.  
I planted my feet firmly on the ground and took hold of the bars. I gritted my teeth and began to pull. Immediately pain flared in my stomach as I strained to detatch the bars. Veins showed on my arms as my muscles struggled to pull the door free. My vision became clouded and I thought I was going to pass out when a creaking noise sounded. I fell on my rear end, metal barred door in my hands. I grinned victoriously.  
"Thank you mister!", the creature sang as it trotted from the cage. It walked funny, didn't look like it had any knees.  
"No problem." , I panted as I stood up.  
"Mind helping us..umm.." ,Kaorin said.  
"My name is Shihu-Danhu and yea, I'll help you." ,the little creature said with a bow.  
"Good!" ,Kaorin said happily, "Now we can search for Miss Sakaki and...the others.", she added "and the others" as an afterstatement.  
"Sure, I know Halvung pretty well.", the little creature said enthusiastically.  
This was great. Stuck in an incredibly hot cave with a midget for a guide. We're all gonna die, I swear it.

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Working on Chapter 3 now. Hope it's turning out ok. Any suggestions, ideas, etc. would be awesome. Rock on.

-Peace


	3. The Escape Route

Wooo Chapter 3! Now for the true beginning of the adventure!

Oh, and Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this series...except for Prior...he's mine.

Prior: Yea, he owns me!

Word up.

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"So what now?" ,I asked our small guide Shihu-Danhu.  
"Well, if we're lucky we can sneak our way out without alerting the trolls.", he piped in his high voice.  
"Do we just go down here?", Kaorin asked and pointed down the stone hallway.  
"Yep yep! This passage leads to one of the main rooms, I'm pretty sure." , our miniscule guide said.  
'Pretty sure' wasn't going to cut it for me.  
"Are you sure?", I asked, suspicious.  
"Mhmm!", he nodded his head ferociously. He certainly was a ball of energy. He smoothed his straw blond hair and moved towards the tunnel. "C'mon!", he called.  
I didn't quite trust him yet. Kaorin sure as hell did though. I can't blame her, he certainly is a cute little thing.  
"What the hell is this place?" , I asked quietly, mopping sweat from my brow as we proceeded down the rock strewn passage.  
'This is Halvung! The troll stronghold!", he said a little too loudly for my taste.  
"Trolls?" , Kaorin said, taken aback.  
"Yep! Those big goofy guys are trolls. I'm sure you've seen them before.", Shihu-Danhu said.  
Kaorin shuddered at the thought.  
"They're scary...", she managed to say.  
"Some aren't too bad!", Shihu-Danhu pointed out. "It's not as bad once you've been captured a few times. Some trolls are nice. This one named Grakshak played cards with me last time I was here"  
He certainly sounded excited about this.  
"How many times have you been captured?" ,I asked, terribly surprised that such battles happen commonly.  
"By the trolls or overall?" , he asked me in return.  
Me and Kaorin simply stared at this odd creature. How could he have survived being captured so many times? It didn't seem like it could be true.  
"You're not from around here are you?" ,he asked as he noticed our incredulous gazes.  
We shook our heads silently.  
Shihu-Danhu looked further down the passageway.  
"Ok, nothing coming. Let me explain to you foreigners what exactly happens here. The city we were captured from, Al Zhabi, holds in it's grasp a splendiforous item. The Astral Candescence"  
I was startled at that statement. Throught the universe Astral Candescences are well known as a source of limitless power. A city with one in it's posession could rule an entire planet.  
"This Candescence," ,he continued, "has alerted the attentions of the Lamia, Trolls, and Mamool Ja Savages"  
I connected the word 'Lamia' with the the half-snake people, so then the Mamool Ja Savages must be the lizardmen.  
"A rare occurance happened in yesterday's attack. All three forces teamed up for an attack. Something odd is going on. I can feel it." ,he shivered a bit, even though the heat was oppressive.  
"That's so...scary..", Kaorin blurted out.  
Silence covered us for a moment.  
"We should...continue." ,I suggested.  
Shihu-Danhu gave one last look at us, the foreigners, and began the trek down the rocky hallway once more. After stumbling over countless small boulders that were in our way the passage finally opened onto a tremendous room. I was fully surprised at the dimensions of the cave-like room we occupied. Sadly enough, we weren't the only occupants. Pacing along the ledge at the bottom of an epic looking bridge over a pit of lava were two trolls. One wore only a loincloth and not much else. He didn't even seem to be carrying weapons. THe other looked more resolute. He was covered from head to toe in think drab green armour. His armoured helmet had eye guards that made his eyeballs look like those of an insect. A terrifying sight indeed. They hadn't noticed the three awestruck travellers standing at the peak of the upward slanting bridge yet and that was for the best.  
When Kaorin noticed the troll guards she threw her hands over her mouth in surprise. What do we do?", she asked through her hands.  
"We..umm...uhh..we...hmm.." ,Shihu-Danhu put his finger to his mouth in thought. "Do you have any ideas Mr.Prior?", he asked after a moment.  
I grimaced. "You're the expert here"  
"Yes, but, usually I manage to escape alone. I can sneak past them. They have pretty bad eyesight. YOu guys would be noticed though. Hmm.." ,he entered thinking mode once more.  
"I have an idea." ,Kaorin piped in. "It's simple but,...", she picked up a stone from the rock floor and weighed it in her hand. A moment later she gave it a mighty heave. My breath caught in my throat as the missile sailed through the air. The sailing rock was lost to sight after a moment only to reappear as a small 'clack!' as it hit the rock below.  
The troll in armour snorted and babbled a few unintelligable words to his companion before both ran off in the direction of the missile's landing point.  
"Quick!", Kaorin warned and tugged on my sleeve.  
'That worked surprisingly well.', I thought to myself as we shuffled down the dangerous bridge.  
Upon reaching the bottom we stalled for a moment before taking the obvious route. The opposite way that the trolls had gone. Barreling through the resulting caverns and caves we were far too rushed to hear the slight skittering sounds from behind us. It was only when Kaorin let out a yell and seemingly fell to the ground that I turned to see our problem. What a problem it was. Keeping Kaorin pinned to the ground with one of it's sharp foreclaws was a nasty looking insectoid being. It's body was long and covered in ebony plates. The bright red sensor organs atop it's small head wavered in the dim light. It's clacking mandibles dripped a viscous liquid upon the ground.  
"Kaorin!", I muttered through clenched teeth.  
Kaorin was trying to struggle against the power of the insect, but to no avail. It had her shoulder pinned to the ground with incredible strength.  
"That's a Wamouracampa.", Shihu-Danhu said, his voice floating up from below me.  
"It could be the Lord of Evil for all I care! I'm gonna kill it!" ,I growled. I wouldn't let anyone die. Not while I'm still alive.  
"I'll help..or at least do my best." ,Shihu-Danhu gulped.  
"It's go time, ugly." , I said for the sole purpose of making myself seem more macho. I cracked my knuckles and charged at this foe. I planned on clobbering it with just my bare hands. It's not smart, I know, but it's what I did. It never occured to me at the time how tough of a battle it would turn out to be.

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OoOOoOooO! Suspense! Chapter 4 in the works. It only gets more exciting from here so stay tuned!


	4. A New Problem

new chapter! Not much to say. Just, enjoy

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Rushing this beast headlong was not the smartest move I could have made. My careless sprint followed by an overhand swing at the beast's head simply resulted in my resounding crash to the ground as I lost balance and fell when the insect moved out from under my fist. Spitting dust from my mouth I stood to face the creature once more. Kaorin was rolling on the ground in pain. Her shoulder bled from where the Wamouracampa had punctured the skin with it's foreclaw. The thing certainly ruined Kaorin's day and my intention was to ruin it's day in return. This time the Wamouracampa made the first move. It curled itself into a ball so it's outsides were totally covered by carapace. Before I could react it rolled with incredible speed in my direction. I made a sad attempt to dodge, but it was too fast. It struck at my knees and sent me barreling over the top of it's spherical form. I can crashing to the ground on my back. Dazed, it took me a moment to notice it's glistening jaws hovering before my eyes. I grunted and rolled out of the way moments before the mandibles would have taken my head clean off. As I stood the creature let out a hissing sound. Almost as if to challenge me.  
"Piece of crap.", I muttered before deftly swinging my fist and connecting below it's jaw.  
It's head rock back with a high screech. I took the oppertunity to throw a haymaker to it's soft, exposed underbelly. This elicted another high groan from the monster. I felt posesses with power as I threw punch after punch into the beast's belly. Suddenly, I felt a new sensation. A surge of energy I had never felt before. An all new sense. A feeling of power. I followed the compulsion to rear my hand back. A great power flooded my hand moments before I brought it foward. As my newly charged fist connected with the belly of the beast a great orange coloured shockwave engulfed my fist. A tearing, ripping sound was audible as the light from this power overwhelmed my eyes. The light dimmed, the sound vanished and so had the Wamouracampa. As I gazed upon the damage I noticed that it's entire upper body seemed to have been vapourized. Gone. Totally destroyed. I looked at my fist. It looked normal. I gazed questioningly at Shihu-Danhu, who was trying to comfort the injured Kaorin. They both stared back at me with glassy eyes.  
"I didn't know you were a monk." , said Shihu-Danhu, astonished.  
"I'm not!", my voice cracked in disbelief.  
"You must be.", he said. "That or a puppetmaster"  
"I'm neither!", I responded, still aghast at the unintentional display of power I had just accomplished.  
Shihu-Danhu simply smirked. "We gotta get outta here"  
"Couldn't have said it better myself.", I said finally coming around. I lifted Kaorin by her uninjured right shoulder and helped her walk.  
"Mr. Prior, that was amazing." ,she said through gritted teeth.  
"Yea, I thought so too...", I said wistfully as we finally reached the entrance to the cave.  
We emerged into the sunlight in the middle of a sparse forest.  
"Welcome to Bhaflau Thickets!", Shihu-Danhu said waving his arm as if displaying the foliage. "Al Zhabi isn't far from here so let's go"  
His enthusiasm was refreshing, so we continued our journey. Kaorin limped along, obviously getting faint from loss of blood. The entire front of her blue tee shirt was now stained with splotches of deep crimson.  
"Hey, little man!" ,I called. "Let's stop for a bit"  
I laid Kaorin upon the ground. Her face was sheet white and her breath was coming in gasps.  
"Kaorin!", I said intently to her, giving her a small shake. "Are you alright"  
She didn't respond. Her pupils had become little more than specks in her eyes and her entire body was drenched in a cold sweat. Something was very wrong.  
"Oh my! Looks like the poison got to her!" ,Shihu-Danhu said matter-of-factly.  
"How do we stop it?", I growled into his face. His small foot kicked idly at the dirt.  
"Well, the poison of a wamouracampa can be neutralized by a compound created from the blood of a Mamool Ja and Hezrakk leaf"  
"Where do we get that? QUICKLY!" , I commanded. My sole purpose right now was to make sure Kaorin lived. Even if it cost my own life.  
"I'll show you. We have only a few hours before the poison takes her over..."

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OoOOoO suspenseful! heehhehe might take me a bit to work on the next one. It'll be a bit longer, I hope

til then -peace-


	5. A Welcome Companion

Not really long, but it's exciting and suspenseful o.o! Do it up

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A walk in the woods would normally be refreshing. It's not so refreshing when you have a dying teenage girl on your back and your only source of help is a three foot tall freak of nature whom you don't truly trust yet. This was my day. Sounds fun, right? Hardly. Walking through Bhaflau Thickets with the poisoned body of Kaorin clutched to my back and being guided by Shihu-Danhu to a supposed cure wasn't my idea of a good day. Trudging along at a fair clip behind the little man was quite the task.  
"How much further?" ,I whined, totally out of breath.  
"Oh...let's see.", he paused for a moment and observed the forestscape. "Mamook is a little more west of here"  
He completed his observation and hopped off nonchalantly on a more western route. I was exhausted from carrying the unconcious girl on my back for the last half hour. We needed to find this cure quickly else I'd never forgive myself.  
"Oh, there it is!", Shihu-Danhu said happily and pointed at an opening flanked by two idolitrous banners. The banners were made of a deep brown wood with pale green stones attatched to them in a hodge-podge manner. "That's Mamook?", I asked.  
"That's Mamook!", he confirmed.  
"About damn time! Let's get this over with. We don't have much longer to wait!", I hurried him along. Gods, this was taking longer than I expected. I was frustrated with his absolute lack of concern. He didn't think of this as an emergency situation. That sort of thing really gets to me.  
"Ok, what part of the damned potion is here?" ,I growled, abolutely peeved at the midget.  
"Both!", he answered happily as he skipped down the path between the trees.  
Well that was good. At least we didn't have to go far. The faster the better, then I can get back to looking for the others. I sure as hell wasn't leaving here without them.  
"Oh, look! There's a Mamool Ja now!", Shihu-Danhu said and pointed at the approaching being. It was taller than me, taller than any normal human. It walked a bit hunched over, as if weighed down by it's primitive looking sword and shield. It's brown scaled hide glittered in the midday sun for it's entire body was exposed save for a loincloth. The Mamool Ja's beady lizard eyes took note of us and it paused.  
My breath caught in my throat. "Uh-oh...", Shihu-Danhu said ominously.  
I slowly lowered Kaorin into the grass beside the path. I expected a fight and I damn well got it.  
A hiss was emitted from the throat of the lizardman moments before it ran with a lumbering gait straight for us. I braced for combat, expecting this battle to be much harder than that with the wamouracampa. Shihu-Danhu began to chant a string of spidery words in an archaic tongue. He thrust his small hands foward and a cone of flame erupted from the tips of his fingers. The warrior roared in surprise and stumbled backwards, scales burnt. I used this diversion to throw a strong kick at it's midsection. The impact stunned it for a moment, and just a moment. The sneer on it's lizard lips could be read as, "You're gonna die"  
It swung it's crude sword at my neck and I took a step backwards as it whizzed inches in front of my face. It took another swing, this time aiming lower. I tried to jump back away from it, but the hooked teeth of the weapon bit into the flesh of my leg. Pain shot up my interior and I gritted my teeth against a scream.  
More magical words were heard from our guide moments before the Mamool Ja was pelted by pounds of coulourful confetti. This was not surprising, considering I probably could have done no better in the magical field. "Ohh...", Shihu-Danhu sounded disappointed.  
The Mamool Ja didn't even notice the bright shards of paper raining on it's hide. It simply twisted it's blade and tore the teeth out of my leg, and some of my flesh with it. I culdn't hold it back this time. I screamed in agony. I instinctivly fell to one knee as fresh blood ran down my leg and rained from the weapon. This was not good. I could barely stand and the Mamool Ja was plenty prepared to lop my head from my shoulders. This was a splendid way to die. Getting my head lopped off by a blade with no full edge to it. It was boudn to hurt, but at least my decapitated skull would be then covered by shiny scraps of paper. A fitting ceremony, although ironic. As I contemplated the complexities of my demise a sharp slicing sound reached my ears. The back of my downturned head was splattered with a warm ichor. I expected the worst until I noticed the feet of the monster collapse. I raised my head to see the Mamool Ja's body in a heap, it's head on the ground instead of mine. I've played chicken with death so many times someday it will win.  
I managed to stand with a bit of difficulty upon my injured left leg. I gritted my teeth against the pain and looked for our saviour.  
Our saviour was not quite human. It had a tail. A catlike tail. I had met Fermouth on another world and this creature bore a striking resemblace to a female Fermouth. Her stark white hair covered one eye under a blue turban stitched with gold thread on the top. Her mouth was not visable due to a flap of black cloth that hung from the headpiece. The rest of her clothing was a very elegant looking collection of blues, golds, and a bit of red and white here and there. Her steps were percise and strong. I could see she hid some inner power that allowed her to defeat the beast.  
"Yay! Jahlo! You saved us!" ,Shihu-Danhu hopped up adn down excitedly.  
I walked over to Kaorin and knelt down beside her. Jahlo soon joined me.  
"What happened to her?", Jahlo asked, rolling her "r's"  
"Poison.", I said simply.  
"From a wamouracampa!", Shihu-Danhu interjected, "I'ma take some of this Mamool's blood and we're going into Mamook to look for Hezrakk leaf"  
Jahlo nodded. "Yes, but Mamook is dangerous. If you couldn't defeat one single warrior how do you expect to get through Mamook alive"  
"Um...be careful?", Shihu-Danhu answered.  
"Not good enough. This girl is in bad shape and your friend here is also injured. The Mamool Ja would kill you in no time. I'll come with you and make sure you're safe. We cannot waste time though. Important things are afoot." , Jahlo said, standing and letting her tail swish behind her idly.  
I picked up the limp Kaorin and held her in my arms. Her breathing was shallow and her hair was matted with sweat. We didn't have much longer. She needed this medication.  
"Can we continue?", I asked, turning to the two non-human beings.  
"Yea, let's go!", Shihu-Danhu said enthusiastically trotting his way toward the jade banners.  
"Do not leave my sight, any of you! this is important Shihu! Don't ignore me!", Jahlo said with emphasis on Shihu-Danhu's seemingly short attention span.  
As we walked my leg began to feel a bit better, but the ache was still there.  
"Here. Let me help you.", Jahlo said.  
She held her hands before her and bluish waves of energy caressed my skin as they passed by me to enter her body. After a moment she twirled her arms in a circular motion and crossed them in front of her eyes. A wave of refreshing and comforting energy radiated from the cat-woman. My leg became numb for a moment before returning to it's normal, uninjured feeling. "Thank you.", I mumbled. I had never seen magic cast in such a manner it seemed she held many secrets behind that veil of hers.  
"What's this important thing ya gotta get to Al Zahbi for, Jahlo?", Shihu-Danhu said to the mysterious magical creature.  
"That's none of your business.", Jahlo answered without even looking at him.  
"Aww..c'mon you can tell me! You've known me for years!", the little guide protested.  
"Yes, back when you were a little troublemaker"  
"So? I have a mission now"  
Jahlo simply sighed. Her little friend was certianly one to talk.  
"So what is it, Jahlo? Hmmmmmmm?", Shihu-Danhu prodded.  
"...The Immortals may have found the Soulforged..", Jahlo said eerily. "No way!", Shihu-Danhu stopped walking and stood, mouth agape.  
I did not understand it at the time, but this knowledge would come full circle.

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Ahh..the plot thickens! Working on next chapter now! Review and tell me how ya like it so far.

-peace-


	6. The Waltz

Thank you Miiake for the continued support! At least someone is reading this and that makes me feel good. ;; Well here's the new chapter. Enjoy.

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As the shock passed Shihu-Danhu continued to walk, mumbling to himself. Jahlo followed, keeping step with the fidgety little magician as if she was his shadow. I lagged a bit behind due to the weight of my task. Kaorin hadn't awoken since she has passed out in the forest. Her breathing was ragged and forced. Only more reason to rush this operation.  
Shihu-Danhu held up a vial of blood he had taken from the Mamool Ja.  
"Got the blood. The Hezrakk leaf is grown by the Mamool Ja to feed their animals. It shouldn't be too hard to find"  
A place filled with those beasts. Great. He had no idea where the leaf was either. It certainly bolstered my confidence.  
"I've seen the leaf. They grow it by the river that runs through Mamook. I think I can lead you to a place it may be located.", Jahlo said expertly. Even she didn't know where it was and she looked as professional as they come.  
"Oh, Prior!", Shihu-Danhu said spontaniously. "I forgot to introduce you! Prior this is Jahlo Teshkondo, she's an Immortal"  
"Pleased to meet you.", Jahlo nodded.  
I nodded in return. "What's an...Immortal"  
"I am a servant of the Empire. I am a guardian of the Astral Candescence. I am a blue mage. I am everything and anything.", she answered, almost chant-like.  
"That's...great..", I mumbled to myself.  
We passed by the jade banners and I felt we had truly passed the gate of no turning back. Once we were in we needed to get what we needed and back the hell out. I would leave the combat to Jahlo and Shihu-Danhu. She seemed disgustingly powerful and he could make himself useful somehow. I decided I would occupy my time with Kaorin. Simply making sure she was ok and didn't die prematurely.  
The ground began to take a downward slope into a cavern. The cave was lit within by torches spaced evenly on teh walls. They cast gloomy shadows on the moss caked walls. Shihu-Danhu and Jahlo were silent. I could see it in their eyes that this was it. This was what it all came down to. Our survival. Shihu-Danhu was so small he was barely noticeable in the mild illumination cast by the torches. Jahlo was crouched in what I shall term to be a 'stealth walk'. Her footfalls muffled due to the precision with which she took each step. There I was, with two expert adventurers and I was clomping along like a riks in heat.  
Jahlo peered around a bend in the cavern. After a moment I took a look for myself. The hall stretched out before us for quite a ways. Illuminated as it was, it looked abandoned.  
"None in sight. It is safe.", Jahlo whispered.  
I tried to follow them as quietly as I could and that took some serious effort. I know what you're thinking. You could do better. Ok, go to the most dangerous place you know. Preferably one that if you were caught you would be torn limb from limb. Then have someone fall unconcious due to poison intake. Pick up this person in your arms and wander aimlessly around the aformentioned dangerous place and see how you like it. Regardless, I managed to muffle my footsteps just a little by crouching slightly. It was uncomfortable, but I would be a lot more uncomfortable if I were caught by the Mamool Ja. As my legs began to shake with muscle fatigue a faint light appeared at the end of the tunnel. Not an artificial light, but pure,yet dim, sunlight. As we reached the mouth of the cavern we gaved out upon the open area before us. The sprawl consisted of an upper level or cliffs connected by crude wooden bridges with a lower, lush green courtyard in the center. It was beautiful if you ignored the violent lizardmen. Only a few Mamool ja milled about in the center enlousure below us.  
"Hmm..", mumbled Jahlo through her veil. "This isn't good"  
She pointed at one spear wielding Mamool Ja in particular.  
"That's the Strifelord Barool ja. He's one of the Mamool Ja generals. Dangerous beyond words.", she told us.  
"I'm guessing the leaf is down there?", I whispered.  
She nodded in confirmation. Splendid. Our only hope to keep Kaorin alive lie within sight of a dangerous Mamool Ja general. Not to mention the other nameless Mamool Ja that roamed the pit below us.  
"Don't worry. I have everything under control"  
She certainly seemed confident. No reason not to believe her considering what she did to that other Mamool. The soft swish of a weapon being drawn was heard as Jahlo unsheathed two rediculously decorated sabers. Each was identical and heavily curved. The curve tapered toward the handle and gold filligree was emblazoned along the blade. Auric wire was twisted on either side of the blade at the handle to form a heart-like shape. All in all they were tremendously elegant swords.  
She pointed to a patch of tall grass along a small stream that ran through the center of the courtyard.  
"Shihu, Grab the grass while I hold off the Mamool Ja. When you get it, get out of here. As fast as possible"  
"What about you?", Shihu-Danhu said, looking like tears were about to well in his eyes.  
"Just get out. Make the antivenom and bring the girl and Mr. Prior to Al Zahbi"  
"You'll die, Jahlo"  
"I'll be fine. I'm an Immortal after all"  
With that statement she bolted headlong out of the cavern and practically dove off the cliff. With a small yelp Shihu-Danhu puttered down the cliff after her. What I saw then almost made my jaw fall off.  
As Shihu-Danhu scrambled for the leaf Jahlo was taken notice of by the two Mamool Ja and the Strifelord. With a menacing growl the Strifelord ordered the others to attack. Jahlo looked unfazed by this act of aggression. She almost seemed to be goading them on. The first lizard warrior swung his makeshift sword in a downward arc. This was countered by Jahlo's right hand sword, her wrist twisting from the strong impact. The Mamool's crude weapon was deflected downward and the beast thrown off balance. The Strifelord came next with a vicious upward lance thrust. Another parry by Jahlo. She spun 180 degrees and brought the weapon she had used to deflect the warrior's sword up in a slash across the Strifelord's chest just as she used her left weapon to block an incoming stroke from the third Mamool. By this time the first warrior had recovered and roared his displeasure as he brought his sword about once more in a midsection sweep. Holding off the other two beasts, Jahlo thrust her azure-booted foot out as a quick solution. The impact must have been harder than it looked because the Mamool's weapon tumbled out of his hands and landed a few meteres from the conflict. The Strifelord saw that she was only standing by one leg and brought his spear about in a low sweep. The handle connected with Jahlo's calf and sent her tumbling to the earth. Here is where most normal warriors would be struck dead. Hell, I'd be struck dead too. But Jahlo wasn't a 'normal' fighter per se. She was beyond that. Using her right sword like a lever she stuck it into the earth and hoisted herself into the air with it. Becoming totally vertical and splaying her legs she struck the two Mamool Ja warriors in the throats with the ends of her boots. The impact was far more intense than would be expected from a girl her size. Gurgling, the warriors backed off. Jahlo righted herself and stood, swords displayed like deadly trophies. The Strifelord looked disgrunted. Probably because his unholy strength couldn't defeat a slender girl such as Jahlo. His anger seemed to be released in a terribly barbarous lunge with his lance. The spear head sailed through the air, aimed directly for Jahlo's heart. I worried for her then, the strength of that onslaught was far beyond what a normal man could stop. Then I thought again, "But she's not normal"  
The spear whizzed to within inches of her heart when, "Ching!", she crossed her swords before her and trapped the weapon between them. It was an amazing feat, I'm sure she was grinning under her veil. She pulled the weapons apart with a resounding clash as the Strifelord's spear was torn in two. The useless pieces clattered to the ground. She wasn't done yet though. Swinging her swords in an arc, blue energy began to pour into her. She tossed her right hand sword into her left hand and caught it as she held out her hand,palm outwards. A crack, a violet light as a blast eminated from her outstreched arm. The burst struck the Strifelord and he was engulfed in roiling purple energies. His body was thrown back quite a distance. He struck the ground, stunned. Jahlo passed the sword back into her right hand and stood triumphantly.But it was too early to celebrate. What she didn't see was the other Mamool Ja warriors that had crept up behind her. One brought his weapon about in a brutal swing. The teeth of the weapon connected with Jahlo's lower back with a sickening, sucking sound. As her blood spread from the wound the other Mamool Ja was preparing himself to attack from the left. By this time Shihu-Danhu had returned with a sample of the leaf clutched in his small hand. He was tugging at my robe, telling me it was time to leave. I didn't want to leave Jahlo like this. I didn't want to abandon her to her fate. But me and Shihu-Danhu had no chance of survival against these beasts. It was now or never. Reluctantly, I agreed to leave. It wasn't my initial choice, but I believed in Jahlo and her ability to make it through alive. I turned my back and followed Shihu-Danhu into the cavern. I would save Kaorin, for Jahlo's sake.

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Once again, suspense! O.O;; If anyone has suggestions, I'm open to them. Hell, if you'd like to see a certain character of a type of character I'll find a way to fit 'em it. It's all fun...so word up and all that good stuff.

-peace-


	7. Return to the Light

A short one for now. I've been busy lately. I'm getting busier too xx. Well, here ya go!

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Hurrying up the corridor with Kaorin in my arms, I couldn't help but think about leaving Jahlo to whatever awaited her. Sure, she was an Immortal, but that didn't mean she was actually immortal. I shook my head to clear it. I needed to concentrate. Kaorin was the priority now. We needed to get out and give her the antidote. I scurried after Shihu-Danhu as fast as my tired legs could carry me. I felt like death. It wasn't easy to carry someone for a multitude of hours through dangerous situations. My legs felt like they would give out at any moment. It seemed to take much longer to exit than it took to enter. It seemed like an eternity until the light at the end of the tunnel reached my eyes. I forced my legs to run that much faster to reach this beacon of hope. The small shadow of Shihu-Danhu passed in front of the light moments before I, carrying Kaorin, emerged also. Panting, I drew up beside the anxious midget.  
"Make the damn stuff!", I huffed out.  
"Yea, yea. Gimme a second.", he said while sloshing the grass and blood around inside the vial.  
The formerly red blood turned a deep purple with the introduction of the leaf. Shihu-Danhu unstoppered the vial lifted it to me. I took the tiny glass and laid Kaorin prone upon the ground. Kneeling, I tipped the liquid into her mouth. I manually tilted her head back to make sure she swallowed it.  
"That's it?", I asked.  
"That's it. Any moment now she should be ok. That's what I hear at least.", the little man responded.  
I sighed. I expected the serum to work, but that was simply because Jahlo said it would. I wouldn't have believed Shihu if he had been the only one to put forth this plan of action. I studied Shihu-Danhu's tiny features. His ears were wickedly pointed and stuck out from his head like rear view mirrors. The large head had equally large eyes. Soft, cute brown eyes. His straw blond hair was tied back in a small knot. His features betrayed his alien nature. But what was he?  
"Shihu, I may sound like a moron for saying this, but...what race are you?", yea, I sounded like a bonafide nincompoop.  
"Wow! You must be from far away! I'm a Taru-taru. Most people just call us Tarus.", he responded kindly.  
Taru-taru. It was a seemingly odd name for a race. Yet, it all seemed to make sense. His name bore a resemblace to the race title. Nothing too out of the ordinary. I'd seen worse. Suddenly, a moaning interrupted my reverie.  
"Uhh...god, my head hurts. Mr. Prior what happened?", Kaorin was sitting up, squinting and holding her head with her right hand.  
I stood my aching body up.  
"I'll explain later. We have to get going"  
"But"  
"Please. Kaorin.", I pleaded politely. She smiled and took a few unstable steps. I expected as much. I reached my arm around her and steadied her walking. She looked up at me with eyes weeping tears. Her formerly beautiful brown ovals were crossed with red veins in the white. Inflammed and sore, she managed a small smile. Cute as ever, dispite the torment. We walked. Shihu-Danhu didn't speak. This made me curious. He was usually talking his head off at the slightest oppertunity. Very unlike him to be silent. I didn't wish to bother the Taru, so I simply held onto Kaorin and followed him into the forest. The walk was long, yet uneventful. I was able to study the local wildlife closely as we made the trek towards Al Zhabi. A major species in these forests were a sort of light pink bird with a gigantic bill. They fluttered a few feet above the ground on small, circular wings. Another, more amazing creature, was what I learned later to be called a marid. They were tusked mammals that stood about as tall as two humans. A long trunk was slung between two giant, ivory tusks and it stared as we passed with red, beady eyes.  
We passed a few other travellers along the way also. One humanoid man was dressed from head to toe in gleaming white armour. Resting upon his head was what looked to be a circlet made up of shining stones. His sword clattered against his armour as he trudged by us with a curt nod of his head. Another passed by us moment later. A Taru-taru by his looks, he ran by without a word. He was dressed totally in leathery brown with a pineal hat atop his large head. By then the giant, white gates of Al Zhabi loomed before us. Me and Kaorin stood in awe at it's grandeur. Shihu-Danhu stood too, but not in awe.  
"What's the matter, little one?", Kaorin asked, still weak from fatigue.  
Shihu stood with his head bowed. "I saw...prisoners in Mamook. They looked like you Miss Kaorin...Could they be..", he never finished.  
Kaorin gasped and I was fully taken unawares.  
"We have to go back.", I stated, trying my damndest to stay calm.  
"Wha..what did...", Kaorin tried to sputter out.  
"We can't go back. The Mamools have secured their defences by now...it would be impossible.", Shihu sighed, defeated.  
"Were...were...they..", Kaorin continued, practically hyperventilating.  
I hated to admit it, but Shihu-Danhu was right. The Mamools were smart. But why didn't he tell us earlier. I kept this to myself. I didn't want poor Kaorin to be any more distraught.  
"Why didn't you say anything!", she blurted out. Her face was flushed in anger. All her weakness was overcome by concern for her friends. One in particular, of course.  
"Well, I didn't want you to worry..considering your condition and all..", Shihu tapped his fingers together.  
"I don't care! We have to make sure they're ok!", she was on the warpath now.  
"We can't get in! We'd just be on a suicide mission! I'm sure they'll be ok. Rarely do they ever kill prisoners.", Shihu-Danhu said angrily. It was odd to hear him yell, considering his voice was like 50 decibels higher than mine.  
Kaorin huffed. She acted nothing like the sick, weak girl she was three minutes ago. "Kaorin, let's just...", I began, but her eyes quickly welled up with tears. Crying, she ran through the pearly gates into the city and disappeared around the side of a building.  
I glared at Shihu. I was displeased, but what could we do? I left him standing there as I jogged after Kaorin. I'd simply explain that everything would be ok. Blah Blah Blah. You know how it works. It usually does work too. It had to work.

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! Might be a bit on next update. I'm busy and well, I'll try my best!

-peace-


	8. Seekers

Ahh! Got it done faster than I expected. ;; Well, here ya go.

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Pushing my way through crowds of people I puttered my way along the cobbled streets of Al Zhabi looking for Kaorin. She had run off...somewhere...where, I didn't know. I had to force my way past all sorts of beings, large and small. None of them gave my a second glance as I shaved my way past them. I guess it was normal to have a robed man running through the streets yelling "Kaorin!" Anyhow, navigating the streets was not easy. The city was divided into squares and each square was connected to at least two others by passages through the walls. I looked high and low for signs of the distraught girl. I even stopped to ask a few passing travellers if they had seen her.  
The first was a wickedly tall, and wickedly arrogant, man with enormous ears resembling those of elves. He was garbed in a loose fitting outfit of neon orange colour. Hanging by his hips were hand-held katars. I shivered as I caught sight of them. Reminded me of Mistress Elina. Regardless, he pretty much questioned my sexuality, laughed at my clothing and practically inferred that I was a stalker intent on murdering and raping Kaorin, in that order. I had no idea how to respond to his haughtiness. I shrugged off his comments and thanked him. He walked off, laughing like a rich fool. Not much help, but the next person I asked offered a bit more assistance. She was human. That was a relief. Seemed to be a lack of humans on this world. Now, don't call me xenophobic, but talking to alien species can be a bit odd at times. I assume it's just genetic programming to feel more comfortable with one of your own species, but that's just my guess. Anyhow, this girl was a real cutie. She couldn't have been out of her teens. She wore her ebony hair up in a bun plastered to the back of her head. Her bright, green eyes were the color of a placid lake. She was dressed in a white tunic with red and gold fillagree on the chest. Her legs were covered with odd looking pants of the same colour and pattern as the top. A cute little outfit on her.  
"Excuse me, madame?", I asked politely as she passed me.  
"Yes? Can I help you Sir?", she asked in a quaint, almost whispered, voice. Also the first time I've ever been called Sir for any of you taking notes out there.  
"Umm..I'm looking for a friend of mine. A teenage girl, about sixteen years of age. Kinda short. Cropped black hair that stops just above the shoulders..err..blue shirt..", it was sort of embarassing to describe her to a stranger when I had to approximate her age. I guess I did seem like a stalker.  
"Oh! I saw a girl like that run through the main square a few minutes back. She looked like she was crying. Poor thing. I should have offered her one of my snoll gellatos and then I could have asked if she was ok and"  
I cut her off. "That's her..thank you.", I said. I didn't know any of the signs of respect on this planet so I gave a small bow and turned to leave.  
"DO NOT LEAVE!", came a booming voice from behind me. The vocie was strong, but it carried a hint of insanity upon it. "Sess, just leave the poor guy alone! He's looking for his friend.", the girl I had just spoken with whispered to her newly arrived companion.  
Her friend looked like a clown. A freakin' fool per se. Dressed in black highboots lined with jewls and a red and black poofy top, also lined with red jewels, the man looked like some sort of nightmare. To add to the foolishness he was followed by a clunky looking automaton with a rediculously oversized head. Must be one of the puppetmasters Shihu-Danhu confused me with. How the hell he could confuse me with this numbnut I don't know. Regardless, the man's tremendous grin below glinting eyes hinted at a loss of sanity.  
"I heard you mention a girl. Your friend.", the man called Sess said as he leaned foward with a squint as if to inspect me.  
"Y..yeah..", I garbled, not totally believing this man was real.  
"You do not know where she is, do you not?", he was grinning and walking circles around me. I didn't look straight at him lest he transfix me with his instability.  
"I..I'm looking for her, yes"  
"Sess...just let the guy go..", his cute friend said, exasperated.  
"No, Les! I need to make sure he's...alright.", his toothy grin filled my vision. Idiot.  
"Never mind Sess here..Mister..umm...", she began.  
"Prior.", I finished.  
"Mister Prior eh?", Sess said suspiciously, as if he didn't believe it was my name.  
"Yea..that's me.", I said with shifty eyes.  
"Well, then! Nice to meet you Prior!", his demeanor changed completely as he offered his black gloved hand to me to shake. I shook it sheepishly, not quite understanding what exactly was going on. "I'm Sess and my friend here is Leslie. I see you've already met her"  
I inclined my head slightly in a semblance of a nod.  
"Oh!", Sess exclaimed, "This here is Lobo!", he grinned enthusiastically as he picked up his automaton and showed it off like a prized kill. The electronic companion wizzed, clicked and otherwise emitted sounds accociated with mechanical activity from it's body. "Cute isn't he"  
"Sure.", I said. Lobo wasn't really cute...it was...awkward looking. As Sess placed Lobo back on it's feet I wondered how in the nine suns of Yalmek it could walk on those spindly legs.  
"Lobo can sniff out this friend of yours in no time!", Sess proposed.  
"That thing", I said indicating Lobo,"can sniff"  
"Sure it can! The sensors in it's cranial unit can detect scent from quite far away. It simply needs something to take the guide scent from.", Sess said proudly. Leslie rolled her eyes distantly.  
"Well, then...here.", I said holding out a small piece of cloth I had ripped from my robe to blot Kaorin's forehead while she was under the poisonous influence.  
"Hmm...this has her scent on it?", Sess asked, holding the material limp in his hands.  
I nodded. Sess then shoved the velvet cloth quite violently into a hold in the bottom of the automaton's metal skull. Whizzing, buzzing, clicking, clanking, and whining was emitted as Lobo's metal skeleton began to shiver.  
"Ahh...it seems he's picked up the scent.", Sess stated moments before Lobo began to lumber off quicker than those legs of his should have been able to carry him. Sess and Leslie reacted quickly to his moments and followed him down one of the corridors. I skittered behind them as the robot led them into the main square of the city.  
Pushing through the bustling crowd I tried my best to keep sight of them. A few times I lost them amongst the pressing bodies, but as I emerged into a smaller square I was able to locate them once more.  
This square was different from the others. It was a port with a ship just beginning it's docking procedures. Lobo was standing frozen behind the dock master's station and Sess was arguing with a very large and bulky creature at the entrance.  
"That's your sutomaton? What's he doing here?", demanded the large pale creature in green.  
"He's sniffing out a lost girl for a friend of mine! Now get outta my way!", Sess told him, trying in vain to push by.  
The muscular creature held him back easily. "It's 100 gil to ride the ferry.", the towering being said calmly.  
"We're just looking...", Sess said while struggling. Leslie placed a few coins into the giant's palm.  
"There's 300 gil.", she said with an air of total peace, "Don't mind my friend"  
"Thank you, ma'am. You may now pass.", the broad being said and moved his bulk to one side.  
All three of us passed the gates and approached Lobo. The automaton was unmoving and silent.  
"He lost her scent at the docks. Maybe she went to Nashmau.", Sess postulated.  
"What's in Nashmau?", I asked innocently.  
"Not much. Unless you like danger. And I LOVE danger!", Sess said with an overemphisized fist pump.  
"She wouldn't get on a boat. She has no money.", I said, now quite worried.  
"Maybe someone paid for her...", Leslie broke in softly.  
"She wouldn't just...", I began.  
"My guess is she was either befriended by a stranger or simply taken against her will.", Sess said, face filled with thought.  
"I'll ask the boat dude.", I said as I approached the giant again.  
"Umm..excuse me..", I said to the rock of a creature.  
"Yes?", his basso voice rumbled.  
"Have you seen..umm a girl..about sixteen in human years...with a blue shirt...come by here? She may have been crying.", I couldn't look him straight in the eyes. The things eye were too hard. Too stony.  
"Hmm...I did...I did...she got on the boat an hour or so ago with a well dressed man in black. He talked to her like he knew her. That's all I saw", he shrugged me off.  
I walked back with a million questions flooding my head. Would be a great waste of space to write them here. I'm sure you know what they'd be anyhow.  
"We have to go to Nashmau.", I said, sounding defeated.  
"Really..", Leslie said with a frown.  
"All right!", Sess cheered and grabbed us both by our sleeves. He dragged us up the plank and into the ships wooden hold. Lobo came clonking after us as we settled ourselves to see the unknown.

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...and it continues. I love adding new characters . Oh well, next one is in the works.

-peace-


	9. Within the Mists

Short chapter to tide ya'll over until the next, more exciting installment of The Soulforged!

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Yea, I puked. As the darkness of night descended upon the boat I was hunched over the rail letting my lunch be accepted by the sea. I hate boats. Gods know I wouldn't have been on one if Kaorin didn't have to go and get herself lost with a stranger. Leslie tried to comfort my ailing stomach by patting me on the back. Yea, like that's gonna help. Sess was too busy running back and forth across the deck yelling out points of interest. Lobo clomped happily after him, without a care in the world.  
"Wow! Ya see that? That's Mount Zhayolm! And that! That's Kinneil Isle! Some people say there's ruins buried under the ocean"  
He continued to blabber as I raised my head back over the railing and sat on the wet wooden deck, exhausted.  
"Feeling better?", Leslie said to me with a smile.  
"Sorta...I'd feel even better if he'd shut up.", I murmured, indicating Sess, the tourguide maniac.  
Leslie nodded and walked over to the ever moving Sess with a normal pace. Her white garments fluttered in the wind as she clocked him in the back of the head with her fist.  
"OW! What's the big deal, Les?", Sess objected, rubbing his wounded cranium.  
"You were not being very polite to our guest.", she said bluntly and turned to gaze across the ocean.  
Sess let out a huff and crossed his arms as he plopped himself on the deck. Lobo clanked down next to him.  
"Always ruining my fun...", he grumbled.  
Leslie sat down next to me. She looked radiant in the dimming twilight. Her eyes illuminated by the red sun.  
"How long has this girl been your friend?", she asked politely.  
"Her name is Kaorin. I met her...not too long ago. We became quick friends though. Doing everything together.", yea, I lied. "Oh that's nice!", Leslie giggled. "Kaorin is a cute name. I wish my name was as cute as hers"  
Oppertunity knocked. "Oh, I think Leslie is a very cute name to fit a very cute girl.", man I'm swift.  
"Well, thank you Mr. Prior"  
She seemed happy about that. Maybe it's my lucky day.  
"Hey, I heard that. Don't be hittin' on Les. Her boyfriend will beat ya up.", Sess interjected, still staring crossarmed into the sea.  
"Gerry would not beat up Mr. Prior! I wouldn't let him"  
Well that was nice to hear. Regardless of her having a boyfriend or not. At least she thought I was cool.  
"Yea, like a feral beast like Gerry isn't going to tear him limb from limb.", Sess chuckled.  
"He's a beastMASTER. Not a beast.", Leslie pointed out.  
"Yea, whatever ya say.", Sess waved off her explanation and continued to glance into the waves.  
"Stupid puppetmaster doesn't know anything about a real job...", Leslie mumbled.  
"What job would that be?" , I asked, stupid as ever.  
"Well, I'm a white mage. I have a lot of responsibility. One needs to be attentive and trustworthy to be a white mage. It isn't easy.", she seemed quite proud of her accomplishments.  
"Ah...", I said into the air. Sess seemed to be getting anxious. He had stopped his staring and was now pacing the deck with Lobo plodding along idly behind him.  
"How much longer!" ,Sess screamed to the boat capitan a few feet above us at the wheel.  
"Ten minutes at most. Hold yer horses!", the gruff man responded.  
"Piss!", Sess cursed. He seemed to be in quite the hurry. Was he bored? I shrugged it off. It wasn't the most exciting boat ride, but it wasn't that bad.  
Suddenly the dar sky seemed to get even darker. A mist came from thin air and settled across the already soaked deck wood. Screeching calls of a terrifying nature filled the air. The ocean too had changed. Rocks filled the pass. Amongst these rocks were the skeletal frames of ships. Giant ships marooned on the reef. Ghosts of their former selves only a few shreds let one know they were once whole at all.  
I saw Leslie shiver. Even the formerly happy-go-lucky Sess seemed to be humbled by the sheer eeriness of the scene. I felt a shiver roll down my own spine. I hoped the ten minutes would pass very, very quickly.  
They did, luckily for me. The small town of Nashmau came into view as if it were birthed from the mist itself. The small town was seemingly trapped between islets of pure rock. It looked like it was crushed. Surviving by the bare bones. As the ship pulled up to the dock I could see into the town proper. Damn place looked deserted. The mist and eerie coldness of the place certainly didn't make it any more inviting.  
Stepping off the boat with my two new companions,I didn't feel any safer. My mistake, three companions. Can't forget good ol' Lobo. In Nashmau it really did seem like something was going to pop out from around the corner and eat you. I constantly was looking over my shoulder for dangers.  
"Yoouuu huumanns cooome fooor trreeassuurreee?", came a high-pitched, slow voice from somewhere below my line of sight.  
As I nearly peed myself, I looked towards my feet. Standing only about as high as my waist was the only thing I had seen so far that I could deem 'cute'. I was a creature with a pale, furry, mouse-like face. It's long snout protruded from between two large, cerulean eyes. Whiskers trembled at the edge of it's nose.  
"No, no...treasure. I'm looking for a girl.", I told the odd being.  
"Ohh...giirrll. Tsotseroon seee huummann girrll gooo with maaann into swwammppy. Tsotseroon teell giirrll that swammpyy daanngerouss, but shhee noo listen to Tsotseroon.", the mouse-like creature told me as he addressed me with a clawed finger.  
"Yea...what direction did she go in?", I wanted to end this conversation, but I was in no rush to be rude.  
"Theeyy gooo noortthh. Toowards Aiiryypaago.", he flicked a slender finger over his shoulder and pointed at an open gate a level above us.  
"Thanks, bro.", I said to the little thing and hurried off.  
"Caayyddarrvva daanngeroouuss. Mannny laammiia inn Cayyddarrvva.", came the ever weakening reply from behind me as I rejoined Sess and Leslie who seemed to be haggling with a mouse-creature merchant.  
"Ten gil at most. That's my final offer!", Sess was bargaining.  
"Teennn clink-clink? Okkaayy. Heerree.", said the little, brown clothed creature as he slid a few pieces of parchment into Sess' hand. Sess in turn handed the being a few pieces of coinage.  
"Got maps of the whole damn area.", Sess beamed, holding up the leaves of paper.  
"Little thingy said Kaorin went into Caydarva or somethin' like that.", I said to them.  
"She went into Caedarva Mire? Shit, dude. That place is dangerous.", Sess said, wide-eyed.  
"What's so bad about it?", I asked innocently.  
"Wanna find out?", grinned Sess. "We've come this far. Can't stop now"  
I easily agreed. Leslie had stayed quiet although it was obvious that this place disturbed her. I was confident, I was ready to face anything in that damn swamp. Well, almost anything.

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There ya go. Cute little Quiqirn and all that stuff. Shool approaching. After it starts it might disrupt my writing schedule D! I'll try my best though.

-peace-


	10. Of Friends and Foes

Here we go again. I certainly hope you like this one. I'm churning out a chapter a night or so. This one took me a bit longer. Enjoy.

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Exiting through the door the little beast pointed out to me, it wasn't long ebfore we emerged into the dim wilderness that was Caedarva Mire. It was chilly, it was wet, and it was creepy. All in all it was just a swamp, but the air of terror never left you. It was upon you always as the mists were always upon the pools of water. Leslie was jumping at shadows, I felt like my bones were freezing, and even Sess seemed to be a bit unnerved.  
"Come on, guys! Can't waste time y'know?", he waved us on with false confidence.  
Our boots squished in the mud as we walked. We trod below hanging mangroves and willow. We trekked past pools housing large, blue leeches. We even once saw, in the distance what looked to be a giant fleshy frog. "The little guy mentioned something about lamia here.", I broke the silence as I wrapped myself in my own arms for warmth and comfort.  
"Mostly the lamia stay in Arrapago.", said Sess. "I've never heard of them out here. If they ARE out here though, we better haul our asses. If they catch us we're pretty much boned"  
"Great...", muttered Leslie, less than enthusiastically.  
I nearly jumped out of my skin as I felt something brush by my shoulder. I looked with wide eyes as a floating plant-like thing blundered by us without a sound.  
Leslie smiled. "Flytraps won't hurt you. Unless you hurt it first"  
I exhaled my trapped breath. It would have been very embarassing to have punched the flying nettle only to be in turn eaten and digested. As we continued I saw more of the floating flytraps. They wandered about, cating flying insects in their goblet-like mouth-aperture. They still gave me the willies.  
Sess stopped to look at one of the maps he had bought. He turned and twisted it until he finally said,  
"We can either keep going straight or head to the west.", he pointed down a fog-laden path westward.  
"What's there is we keep going north.", I asked, brushing a few flies from my face.  
"Hmm...doesn't look to be much. A few dead ends is what it looks like to me.", said our map holder.  
"And west"  
"Arrapago Reef...", Sess said with an audible gulp. Leslie let out a worried moan. Even Lobo seemed to click and whirr in an uncertain manner.  
I had a feeling. Just a feeling.  
"West.", I said.  
"...Are you out of your fucking mind?", Sess said in a voice close to a whisper.  
"You DID give me a choice.", I responded.  
"Yea, but I didn't actually think you'd WANT to head to your death. Besides, me and Leslie don't wanna die. Right, Les?", he said and glanced at Leslie who had her head towards the ground.  
It felt as if Leslie was about to nod in agreement. She said otherwise though. "Sess, we came here looking for this girl. Kaorin. You agreed to help Mr. Prior. You wanted to help him"  
"Yea...so?", Sess replied.  
"So, I say we trust his feelings.", she said and lifted her head triumphantly.  
"Leslie, no, no...this swamp gas must be messing with your head. You're saying you WANT to head into Arrapago Reef. You WANT to head into the bastion of the lamia. Do you know what they do to people like us? Huh? Do you!", Sess was becoming impatient. His voice rose.  
"Yes, I know. I still trust Prior.", she said, voice stony.  
"They kill you first. Then they raise up your body with necromancy and make you one of their everlasting slaves. You become a trapped soul,assisting the lamia with their horrible schemes for all eternity! Do you want us to join their ranks?", Sess said unnessecarily.  
"Fine. Fine! You guys go! I'm going to head back to Nashmau and hang with the Quiqirn. They're a lot safer than wandering into the lair of chimeric snake beasts. You two can romp off to your deaths, but I'm not romping off to mine! I'll make sure to write you both a great obituary!", he said before stomping off in the direction of Nashmau. Lobo clattered behind him and soon his footsteps and Lobo's low hum were lost to the mists of the marsh.  
"Come, let's continue", Leslie said.  
"But..", I began, but was cut off.  
"We don't need him. Let's go.", Leslie tugged on my cuff to get me moving. The ground sloped downward as we moved deeper into the mire. "Well, if it's as dangerous as he says...", I began once more.  
"Prior. Follow your heart. It'll be best for all of us.", she smiled her infectious smile at me. Gods was she attractive. And reassuring.  
I sighed. "Why are you coming with me?", I said, still looking through the mists ahead.  
"What?", Leslie said, startled. "I'm coming because I want to help"  
"Why help me? I haven't done a thing for you"  
Her eyes became hooded by depressing lids. "My family was taken by the beastmen years ago. I can't let that happen to another"  
"Oh...I'm sorry.", that's all that I could say. I'm surprised she didn't knock my ass back to last week.  
The air became much colder. If that was possible. It felt as if all of a sudden someone dumped a bucket of ice down my pants. I shook and Leslie clung to my arm out of pure terror. Her fingers dug into the flesh of my arm as we proceeded foward cautiously.  
"I..I think we're getting close...", Leslie whispered, her breath making puffs in the chill air.  
I pushed my aching muscles to move as the mist began to dissapate. I wished I hadn't moved because a wide cave mouth appeared before us. A cold draft wafted from the entrance.  
"Th...This is...Arrapago...", Leslie said, trembling in fear.  
I grunted in aknowledgement and proceeded into the depths. The cave was small. After a short walk the cave opened onto a scene straight out of a suspense flick. Ships. Acres and acres of shipwrecks scattered along the rocks as far as the eye could see. The scene was eerily quiet with the only sign of life being the green, bird-like animals that walked upright.  
"Wh..where could she be?", I asked to no one in particular.  
"Horror stories are told of Arrapago. They tell of people charmed by the lamia and used as puppets of destruction and death. It is rare to see a person taken captive by the lamia return home safely. If she is here. She is in incredible danger. We have to move quickly.", Leslie explained and began the walk down the rocks toward a small cave to the east.  
I felt like eyes were peering at me from the shadows at all times. Such piercing glares that every flicker or movement made me jump. Upon entering the cave a steel barred dore was visable on the far wall. Leslie gave it a small push and it swung open. We both paused and cringed at the creak it made as it swung to it's full. Pausing and glancing down the hallway before us we spotted nothing. Deeming it safe we crouched low and walked like secret agents on a dangerous mission into enemy territory. Well, that's what it was anyhow. Thinking we had heard something we quickly skittered down a westward tunnel. The tunnel ended in yet another barred gate that opened easily to the slightest touch. Spread before us was a passage of rocks lined by wrecks of galleons. Multiple paths connected to the main, center pathway. At the end of the pathway was a sight for sore eyes. It was Kaorin and the mysterious man in black. He was an average sized man with a shock of blond hair that was plastered to his skull. He was standing, back to us, over Kaorin who was on her knees with shackles binding her hands and feet. Slight echoes of his voice rebounded off the rocks as he seemed to be conversing with invisible presences. We crept closer. Slowly. Slowly. We had moved about halfway to our goal, hiding behind rocks along the way for cover. It was then that we heard the noise. A scraping, slithering sound. As we continued to gaze the man stopped his blabbering and turned his own gaze to a small hole in the rocks to his left. Kaorin whimpered as the slimy, horrible form of a lamia emerged. In the darkness I could just make out that this lamia was not normal. She was huge. Towered two times or so over the man. Her hair seemed to writhe as if something were living there. Red pinpoints of light could be identified as her eyes, shining in the moonlight. Leslie and I gazed in absolute horror at this tremendous chimera. The man spoke with the lamia. The lamia responded in a scratchy voice. What a snake would sound like if one could speak. It was then that she reached behind her and pulled an enormous longbow off her back. She fiddled with it for a moment before nocking an arrow. I saw my life flash before my eyes as in one swift motion she drew the bow and fired the arrow. Towards me. The missile struck the rock before us and clattered to the earth. The man turned and looked to where the arrow had been fired. And he grinned.  
"Uninvited guests I see.", a chuckle followed. "Friends of hers?", he laughed and grabbed Kaorin by the collar of her shirt.  
Me and Leslie could not move. Could not speak. We were paralyzed with fear.  
"Shall I kill them? Or do you want the honours Mistress?", he spoke to the lamia in a singsong voice.  
A grin split the strangely pretty face of the huge creature. The sound of slithering began once again as she made her way down teh rocks in an agonizingly slow manner. It was purposeful. She wanted us to suffer.  
I still could not move. The fear she generated was far too great. Everything from her shining eyes and writhing hair to her glittering bodypiece to her slimy tail terrified me. The closer she got the more my eyes began to water. I couldn't even close my damn eyes. I was transfixed. The least I could hope for was a quick death, or a last minute rescue. I got the latter.  
I don't know the specifics of what happened next, but one minute I was staring death in the eyes. The next minute I was free of that transfixation and the lamia lay prone at the base of the rock wall near Kaorin's prison.  
My first reaction was to stand. Apparently that was Leslie's too. With the clatter of running footsteps our saviours joined us in staring down our enemy. The three valourous beings that had saved our hides were none too surprising. Reaching us first was the expected presence of Sess and Lobo. Next was the ever mysterious Jahlo Teshkondo. Third, was someone far more myserious. Dressed in the exact same azure clothing as Jahlo was a smaller, human female. Something about her eyes emitted a sense of true power. A power beyond that of Jahlo. No thanks were passed between us. Silence was all that was needed.  
Jahlo drew her swords and challenged the man. "Let Kaorin go"  
Of course, he laughed heartily. "I think not. Such a lovely present for Lord Eald'narche should not be given to strangers"  
With that he grabbed Kaorin and held her close as both were engulfed in a deep, dark light. When the image dimmed, they were gone. Totally gone.  
"YOU BASTARD!", yelled Leslie, surprisingly loud.  
The man was not around to hear it, but the lamia was. In the time it had taken for the man to speak and warp, the lamia had gotten back on her feet...err...tail. She raised one jeweled claw in a signal. With that signal two humanoid forms emerged from the darkness before us.  
Their eyes were cold, deep, abysmal pits of nothingness. Their faces showed no emotion. One was dressed in a red and black doublet and a cap with a feather. She carried a sword. The other was dressed somewhat like a pirate. A mauve frock edged with lace. She wore a tricorne hat and carried squat gun. Scary isn't it? It's even more horrifying when the beings before you were once your friends.

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heheh. Fun. Well, we have a new foe. Any guesses? Well, with school fast approaching I'm going to try and get as much done as possible. So look foward to another long chapter.

-peace-


	11. A Former Meaning

Nice and short cuz I'm busy D:. More crossover hell (my specialty). Hope ya enjoy the epic battle. I dunno how good it is though.

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I knew the beings that stood before me. In one way they were my friends. In another way they were not. The once happy-go-lucky Tomo Takino was now reduced to a lifeless husk with no control over her soul. In her once relaxed hands she was clutching that squat looking gun. The same went for the once calm and collected Yomi Mizuhara. She was now a staring terror who only obeyed her mistress. In her hand was a finely wrought fleuret that looked as sharp as sharp can be.  
"Tomo? Yomi?" ,I questioned the two softly. The only response to my words were an even darker stare from those once bright eyes. I felt a slight touch on my left hand as Jahlo slowly slid one of her elegant sabers into my palm. I gripped the hilt and felt it's warm leather grip. It was comforting to have a form of protection once again.  
"You and me take the red mage. We'll leave the corsair to Sess and his white mage friend." ,Jahlo indicated Yomi with a slight nod of her head when she whispered 'red mage'. When the hell did Yomi learn to be a red mage?  
"What about the lamia?", I said softly to Jahlo as the large snake woman writhed toward her minions.  
"Leave her to the Soulforged.", Jahlo said simply and struck a fighting pose.  
The lamia grinned and gave another clawed signal. Tomo held her gun to her shoulder, aimed at Sess. Yomi held her sword to her side and stood at the ready. A moment later all hell broke loose.  
Yomi, dressed in her dapper new attire swept her sword upward toward Jahlo's head. Jahlo easily parried this and Struck Yomi with her shoulder, knocking the tall girl to the ground. At this moment a loud shot rang out. Tomo had fired her weapon at Sess as he was running circles around the girl. With her attention focused on Sess, Lobo took the oppertunity to rake his sharp looking fingers along Tomo's back. The frock ripped, but there was no shreik of pain. The girl simply swatted the robot away in an inhumanly powerful way. As I watched Lobo get to it's feet once more, a shadow fell over me.  
"Prior!", Jahlo yelled to me. I turned just in time to get a splendid rip across the front of my robe from Yomi's rapier. She went for a thrust and I managed to parry the weapon away. Using this feint she threw her red garbed foot out and struck my right leg at the knee. My legs buckled and I fell to the ground. Yomi poised her weapon for a killing blow. Just as she began to raise her sword Jahlo threw herself at my former friend and tackled her to the rocks. As they fell to the earth Yomi kept a death grip on her weapon. They rolled along the rocks, wrestling for dominance over the other. Yomi managed to get on top and had her left hand around Jahlo's throat. At this time I stood on shaking legs to assist. I ran at full speed and was about to raise my foot to kick Yomi off when she noticed my presence. Her sword dropped immediately and she raised her palm at me. A slight scent of the Empyrean and a half second later I was leveled to the ground by a blast of pure energy. It writhed up my body as I lay on my side, helpless to assist Jahlo. Yomi had Jahlo's neck in both hands, squeezing the life from her eyes. Jahlo's stregth was no match for that of the possessed teenage girl. When jahlo was dead, I was next. There was no helping that. I was a dead man. I was dead as a doornail. Then Jahlo exploded. No wait. She simply erupted in a gigantic cone of orange and red flame. The tremendous report echoed off the surrounding reef. I watched in terror as Yomi's limp form was thrown at least 10 feet from the explosion and landed in a heap on the rocks. In the place Jahlo had once been there was nothing. Singed rocks were the only reminder she had been there at all. Tears welled up in my eyes with the sight of such a noble sacrifice. Feeling was returning to my body. I silently thanked Jahlo for her effort. I just hoped she hadn't killed Yomi too. That may or may not be worse. I couldn't worry about that yet. I had to help the others. I stood up on wobbly legs and clutched Jahlo's precious sword. I gazed at the two other battles that were occuring. Tomo was fending off Sess with two sturdy looking daggers. While on my left the lamia was doing battle with the mysterious other blue mage. The Soulforged as she was called. Their battle was beyond epic. With each swing of the lamia's huge scimitar the smaller girl would respond with multiple strikes with her ornamented saber followed by a powerful magical assault. She was moving faster than any normal human reaction speed. The small mage,with shoulder length ebony hair emerging from below her cap, consistantly threw the lamia to the ground with her awesome display of magic. I decided that someone called 'The Soulforged' could take care of themselves. With that I dove into battle against my once friend, Tomo Takino. She was still busy holding off Sess and Lobo's strikes as I approached her from behind. As I ran, I passed Leslie who seemed to take the part of a aghast observer. Then again, a white mage is a healer, not a fighter. I left her to her observations as I drew my blade across Tomo's back. Blood oozed out, but once again there was no scream of pain or any reaction at all for that matter. She simply bashed her balled fist into Sess' chest. He lost his balance and went sprawling onto the rocks. Upon seeing that I sent my left fist sailing to connect with Tomo's cheekbone. I felt the impact, but apparently she didn't. I was paid no attention as she quickly sent a vicious kick towards poor Lobo. It connected with his metal cranium and sent him clattering to the earth once more. That is when she turned her unholy attentions to me. With an unmoving expression she inserted one of her daggers into my gut. Leaving me not a moment to react. The first stab wound was soon greeted by a second. A few inches apart, but still in my stomach. I glanced from her matte brown eyes to my bloodstained robe and back up again. The pain was quickly overtaking everything else. I felt Jahlo's sword fall from my grip, but I certainly didn't hear it. My vision became wavy as if this entire scene was underwater. My last vision was the face of Tomo, still locked with a lack of emotion.  
Absolute darkness. Beyond the deepest darkest darkness you can ever think of. Yea, it was that dark. It felt as if I was lost in this abyss with no way out. I was trapped for eternity to seek nothing in my own private hell. I sensed no escape, no return to the living world. That is until I saw her again. Jahlo, shining in pure azure light seemed to call to me. Her shielded face was only visable a moment more until the azure light became to bright to see clearly and I returned to the world of the living once more.  
First thing I saw upon my eyesight returning was the overly joyous face of Leslie smiling down upon me. For a moment I thought I was still dead. She sure fit the bill of an angel.  
"Oh, thank Altana! I thought you had fallen beyond my ability to heal!", she look relieved.  
I sat up and felt the spots where the daggers had pierced my skin. Nothing remained. Not a scar. Not a scab. Nothing at all. Just my smooth, tremendously sexy skin. Leslie sat back on her heels and sighed in relief. She had been sweating. Must be tough to be a white mage. "Good to see ya back buddy!", called Sess from my left.  
"Yea! Sorry I stabbed you!", yelled the unmistakabe voice of Tomo. Back to normal. She was standing beside her best friend Yomi. They both had the light returned to their eyes. They were normal once more. Standing behind Sess was the ever quiet form of what was called the Soulforged. Something about her eyes... Regardless, I stood up on my heavily weakened legs. My head swam. everything was blurry for a moment before I recovered. The dead body of the strange lamia lay upon the rocks. Totally broken.  
"So, where to now?", said Sess enthusiastically.  
Leslie also got to her feet. "The man mentioned Lord Eald'narche. He's the brother of the Duke of Jeuno"  
"Jeuno then? I've never been there! Let's go!", Sess cried out.  
"YEA! LET'S GO!", screamed Tomo, just as happily.  
This was certainly about to turn into a fiasco. I could feel it.

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Well, there ya go. My writing time has been heavily lessened so it may take awhile to update. But hang tight. It's about to get good!

-peace-


	12. A Method of Continuation

Ok, real short, but it's for a reason. Longer one in semi-progress.

Prior: Write longer chapters ya jackass! I hate losing attention. Everyone wants to read my stuff, you know that!

Jay: Nah, I'm the writer. You're just my pawn. Now get back in your box.

Prior: whimpers Yes, sir.

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"The hell I get these clothes from anyway?", screamed Tomo as we sat in our room in a cheap inn amidst the mists of Nashmau. She was pulling at her frock. Examining it as if it was a giant octopus or a some other creature she'd find intriguing.  
"The lamia, I assume.", I answered as I sat on the edge of the abhorrently uncomfortable bed pulling off my boots.  
"Lamia? The damn snake ladies? Geez! I love it!", she shouted in excitement. "I even have a gun and shit"  
I laid back on the thin matress and closed my eyes. It seemed like only a moment before I drifted off to sleep. Jahlo was in my dreams again. This time though her face was not shielded. Her mouth was turned up in a smile as the cerulean light that formed her clothing whispered around her. "You know where you are going, correct?" , her voice was in my head. It wasn't a terribly strange phenomena to me. I had been telepathically communicated with before. It wasn't so bad.  
"Jeuno...or somethin like that right?", I responded with inner voice. Her ethereal form nodded. "There is a man in Jeuno that may be able to help you find Eald'narche. Speak with Verechant"  
With that the vision faded. The darkness of sleep encompassed my brain. At least the visions let me know that even though she was no longer part of this mortal world, she was still here. Truly she is immortal. I slept for a long while. When my eyes opened once more I was alone in the room. I also ached like someone had been pounding on my chest with a hammer. Not a thing I wanted to worry about this early in the morning though. I decided to search the rooms of my companions. They were also empty. They wouldn't have left without me. ...Would they? With no other option left I rushed out the door of the inn. Emerging into the streets of Nashmau I bolted for the port. Upon entering the docking station I spotted my friends. "Hey, guys!", I called out as I approached them. Every one of them turned and I could see in their eyes that they had expected me.  
" 'Bout time you woke up!", chastised Tomo. She was one to talk.  
"Why did you guys leave me?" , I put a terribly pathetic tone to my question. Sympathy points.  
"We went out to get somethin' to eat. Let you sleep though cuz Tomo probably shook and jumped on your chest at least a dozen times." , Sess replied. Well, that explains the rediculous chest pains. "Here." ,he said holding out to me a golden crusted pastry. I gobbled this like I hadn't eaten in a year and a half. Aghast eyes met my gaze as I finished gulping the delicious breakfast food.  
"What?", I said, responding to the stares.  
"You freakin' inhaled it.", Yomi said, mouth gaping.  
I was about to respond, but I was interruped by the bleating foghorn that announced the arrival of the ship. We boarded the ship. Blah, blah, blah. The trip was pretty uneventful save Sess' attempt at dancing with the green penguin-like things that I now know are called apkallu. That didn't turn out so well. As he held it's wing and decided to twirl it, the apkallu thought differently. Sess' humming was then interrupted by his being pecked by the creature. He tried to ward it off with his hands, but it pecked his face into a fairly bloody mess. It was laughable to say the least.  
Upon once again arriving in Al Zahbi we began to plan our course of action. Leslie informed us that our first goal would be to find a white mage that can teleport. She said it would save us a lot of time and effort.  
"The hell is teleporting? You never mentioned that before.", Sess asked.  
"Apparently, white mages from the west have access to a spell that transports them and their friends to a 'crag'. I hear they are useful for getting to the major cities quickly. That's all I know.", Leslie shrugged.  
"Well, where can we find a white mage that can do that?", Yomi asked, hands on her hips. She certainly looked regal in her red and black doublet with the hat to top it all off.  
"Hmm...I guess we just ask any white mage we come across.", Leslie suggested. We all nodded in confirmation, not being able to come up with anything more useful ourselves. With that we began our search. Along our way we passed a multitude of white mages. A string of them were not from the west. Then we finally found one that met our criteria. We nearly overlooked him..err...her, damn Tarus all look the same. She was shorter than Shihu-Danhu, if that was even possible.  
"Can I help-aru you?", she said cheerfully.  
"We need a teleport or somethin' like that, short-stuff!", Tomo said bluntly. She certainly was one for words. Yomi pushed her out of the way.  
"We need a teleport please. We're sort of in a hurry.", Yomi said politely.  
"Where to-aru?", she replied with a smile that seemed to be adhered to her face for all eternity.  
"Umm..", Yomi didn't have an answer to that one. Then again, neither did the rest of us.  
"What are our choices? We're a bit unfamiliar with teleportation.", asked Leslie as well as she could without making us look like absolute numbskulls.  
"Well, we have Dem-aru which is near Bastok-aru. Then we have Holla-ru which is close to San D'Oria. The last one I can preform-aru is Mea-ru which is near my home town of Windurst!", the Taru explained with obvious Taru emphasis on certiain words.  
We consulted with one another. None of us had any idea if one was better than the other. We didn't want to look like total idiots so we just decided to choose one and hope for the best. Hopefully it wasn't located in a field of magma or the lair of a horrid death beast.  
"Umm..we'll take..

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Ok! Here's where you guys come in. Mea, Dem, or Holla? I'll take the one that gets the most votes...or any votes for that matter. Your choice will influence what/who they encounter next! Be a part of the coolest story ever! advertisement ends is followed by a hairy man trying to sell you Oxy Clean

-peace-


	13. Over the Hills and Far Away

Bah..long time for a short chapter. Soory v.v

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"Umm..we'll take Mea." , decided Leslie. None of us had any idea if Mea was the safest choice, but we decided to give it a go anyhow.  
"Okie-taru! Off to Mea we go! Hold onto your various head coverings!", and with a wave of the hand we were literally reduced to nothing. It was as if your body was transformed into particles and tossed through the void. A moment later we reappeared near a glowing crystal in the middle of a windy canyon. The soft blue glow of the crystal cast a slight arc of light across the tremendous, stark white structure behind us. It was abhorrently large for such a bizzare looking thing. I watched as Leslie turned to where the little Taru should have been.  
"Which way to Jeu...", she stopped when she realized that no one was there. "Dammit! Now where the hell do we go?", Tomo screamed, of course. Needless to say, not one of us knew even the general direction to wander in.  
"Wow! This must be a crag!", belted out Sess. He was rubbing his hand on the smooth, bone-like surface of the large structure. "Sess, stop it. We have to find Jeuno.", Leslie put her hands on her hips and surveyed the surroundings. Not much to be seen besides dust, rocks and a few scattered plants.  
"Didn't that little thing say there was another city nearby?", Yomi added.  
"Yea, Windurst or something.", I answered.  
"Well, we don't even know where the hell that is either!", yelled Tomo, throwing her hands to the sky.  
"Why don't we ask Ms. Mysterio over there.", postulated Yomi while jutting a finger towards The Soulforged. The mysterious blue mage was simply gazing at the clouds as they passed overhead. A curious hobby to say the least.  
"Hey! You!", shouted Tomo at the top of her lungs. The Soulforged snapped back to attention and gazed at poor Tomo with eyes that seemed out of focus. She tilted her covered head as if in question.  
"Do you know where we're going? C'mon speak up!", Tomo dug into the Soulforged with her words. The only response she got was another head tilt.  
"Can you understand us?", Yomi asked. The eyes of the Soulforged went blank once more and it was evident she was totally spaced out.  
"Well, she's no help!", Tomo threw up her hands in defeat. A moment later the Soulforged raised once azure gloved hand and pointed to the north. Her hand then returned to it's place at her side.  
"Is Jeuno that way?", Sess burst with excitement. He was jumping up and down like a three year old at a carnival. No response.  
"Might as well go that way." ,Leslie shrugged, "It's not like we know any better"  
Thus began our trek. Sess and Tomo seemed to be getting along well. Chattering in their shared high spirits. Yomi had to bash Tomo on the head a few times for unsavoury comments about her weight. This made Sess laugh. Rauciously. Me and Leslie followed behind, laughing at their rediculous antics. Beside us walked the Soulforged. She didn't speak. Just stared straight ahead. Any attempts to speak with her were met with silence. Night was beginning to fall just as the canyon grew much wider and opened into a vast plain of dust and rock. In the far distance something vaguely white cut across the horizon.  
"Holy shit!", Tomo exclaimed. "This is huge"  
It certainly was. The light of the sun was quickly dimming and extending our shadows along the ground.  
"Did anyone bring any food?", Sess asked, holding his belly. Staring ensued. Rummaging pockets followed to no avail. "Guess...we're gonna have to kill something.", I admitted. "Hell yea!", Tomo shouted, gun raised to the sky.  
"Ok, Prior and Tomo here can go look for suitable food. The rest of us will try and start a fire with...", Sess looked around him at the rocky ground. "...With..umm"  
"Magic", Leslie suggested.  
"Yea, that"  
Me and Tomo trudged off into the ever growing darkness of the mountains, seeking prey. As we passed through the shadows she began to shiver.  
"Geez, it's cold for being so deserty"  
"You got that right"  
More mindless chatter followed. We passed under an archway of stone. The pinnacle hung high above our heads, yet in the back of my mind I hoped it would not fall. Our boots scraped the sand and we heard a wail. It was a gurgling sound. As if an animal was trying to call for assistance and failing. We ran. We were starving. As we approached the sound we saw the shadowed forms of two beings. One was a bizzare cat-like being with a spotted ochre coat and long flowing whiskers. Standing before it was a girl dressed in animal skins. Her long, dark hair reached past her waist. Her right arm was outstretched and was almost touching the forehead of the beast. The beast swayed on it's clawed feet for a moment before becoming still. The girls deep, brown eyes met mine. She was...familiar.  
"Sakaki? The hell are you doing!", Tomo blurted out before those same words could pass my lips.

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Well,well off to Jeuno they go. Tune in next time for more of...glass breaking


	14. Character Profiles and Notes

OK, so Miiake, character confusion? I hope this clears it up ;;

**Character Profiles and Other Notes**

Notes: As was stated at the beginning of the story, this is part 3 of the Fated to Live saga. My idea for writing the saga centers around Prior and how I wished for his adventures to be connected somehow. Therefore, I decided to stick him within stories and such that I enjoyed. Part 1 titled, "Elsea, Mistaken Identity" follows the universe and story of Warhammer 40,000. One of the characters from that story was taken into the next one titled, "If I Were an Angel". That one uses the characters and storyline of the anime Azumanga Diaoh. The character that was taken from the first part to the second was killed off. A majority of the characters in Part 2 were taken into Part 3: "The Soulforged", which takes place on the world of Vana'diel in Final Fantasy XI. As you can tell I adore strange crossovers. It's all sorts of fun ;;

Ok, now for the characters:

Cyphus K. Rieshis (Prior): main character, priest of the goddess Jynark. Is constantly lost due to his obsession with his travelling device that allows him to travel anywhere in the universe in the blink of an eye. Unfortunately for him, he has very minor knowledge of how to work the device. In "The Soulforged", he is stuck on Vana'diel until he can find all the people he came there with. He doesn't wanna be responsible for their deaths! He is mostly concerned about Kaorin since she has been captured by a man who apparently works for Lord Eald'narche.(Original Character)

Sess (Puppetmaster): Smartass and arrogant. He seems to always be in high spirits. Seems to take an extreme liking to Leslie, his best friend. (Original Character)

Leslie (White Mage): Intelligent, wise, and reserved. Does her job and does it well. Worried about her friends and companions, she follows Prior out of a sense of duty. (Original Character)

Jahlo (Blue Mage): Deceased, or is she...(Original Character)

Tomo Takino (Corsair): High spirited and playful, yet careless. After her capture by the lamia she was brainwashed and her mind was trained in the ways of the corsair. Her skills remain after she is freed from the bond of the lamia. (Azumanga Diaoh character)

Yomi Mizuhara (Red Mage): Smart and careful. Tomo's complete opposite and best friend. Her latent magical energies were freed by the lamia for neferious purposes. Her power remained after the bonds with the lamia were broken.(Azumanga Diaoh character)

The Soulforged (Blue Mage): Not much is known about this mysterious figure. Seems to be a blue mage of incredible physical and magical prowess. Does not or cannot speak. Why she is following the group is not known, but she seems to want to help. Something about her eyes though...

Sakaki Koyoshi (Beastmaster): Most suitable job for an animal obsessed girl. A usually quiet and 'cool' girl, her true spirit is in the love of animals and everything cute. Few people see that side of her. Lost in Meriphataud Mountains for days before being rescued, nursed, and trained by a beastmaster. (Azumanga Diaoh character)

Kaorin Aida (?): A shy, worrysome girl that is totally obsessed with Sakaki. Has rediculously bad luck on Vana'diel. Poisoned, worried, and is captured by a man as a "present for Lord Eald'narche". Why does Lord Eald'narche want her? Well, that's why ya gotta keep reading P (Azumanga Diaoh character)

More Azu characters to be introduced later. Maybe some OC's, I dunno. 3 works in progress.

Well I hoped that cleared up any problems! ;;

-peace-


	15. A Lone Wolf and the Great City

Finally, got a chance to work on this v.v. Ok, so here ya go.

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"Oh, hello Tomo. And Mr.Prior.", Sakaki gave us a curt bow. She was dressed rather..strangely. Head to foot, she was covered in animal skin clothing. Fur ringed her jacket, gloves, boots, everything. She even wore a rediculous headpiece. The damn thing had horns for Jynark's sake. That odd cat-like beast followed her around like they had known each other for ages. Sakaki seemed in control in this relationship.  
"The hell are you doing?", Tomo asked slowly.  
"Oh, I was lost. I wandered for days in the mountains before a man found me. He nursed me back to health and taught me the ways of a beastmaster. I love it...", Sakaki mumbled the last sentence.  
"About damn time we found you!" ,said Tomo, holstering her weapon.  
"Where's everyone else?", Sakaki asked.  
"Oh, Yomi is back at the camp. Along with some other wackjobs.", Tomo told her friend.  
"What about the others? Chiyo? Yukari? Osaka? Kaorin?", Sakaki sounded worried at the prospect her friends might be in danger.  
"I have no idea where they might be. Prolly got abducted by space aliens or summin...", Tomo postulated.  
For all we knew that could have been an acceptable explanation. There had been no sign so far of Yukari, Chiyo-chan, or Osaka. They could be anywhere, but making sure Kaorin was ok was our top priority.  
"Oh...", Sakaki said, eyes on her booted feet. Her soft voice always seemed worried or hurt. It could also be reassuring. All of a sudden as if to start a war Tomo interrupted.  
"OK! We need some food! AHH! A CHEETAH!" , this statement was quickly followed by a prompt gunshot to the head of the animal that was following Sakaki. All of this happened within a range of 3-4 seconds. Me and Sakaki barely had time to react before the beast's form slumped to the ground, half of it's head blown to bits. Sakaki looked to be on the verge of tears.  
"Why...?", she asked the sky as she ran her hands along the thing's soft fur.  
"Well, we needed something to eat and there just HAPPENED to be a wacky cheetah followin' ya.", Tomo answered non-chalantly. Sakaki stood up with a sigh. From there Tomo happily made me carry the bloody corpse of the beast all the way back to the campsite where someone had managed to create a blazing fire out of the small shrubs that littered the ground.  
"Ah! Sakaki!", Yomi said with fervor as we came into sight. She ran over to embrace her equally tall friend.  
"Hey! No hug for me?", Tomo said, trying to sound hurt.  
"Quiet, numbnut.", Yomi answered quickly before turning back to Sakaki. "Where have you been"  
"Oh..I've been...here...", she answered in her characteristic soft voice.  
"And why are you dressed like this?", Yomi said, tugging on her furred helmet.  
"She's a beastmaster! I shot her pet for food!", Tomo interjected and began to growl like some sort of wild animal.  
"Yea...ok, calm down wildcat. We better cook this thing.", Yomi said in refrence to Tomo then the cat-like beast.  
"Oh boy! Coeurl! That shit is gooooooood! Let em take care of the cooking!", Sess suggested and drew his katars from his side.  
"Sess, don't make a mess with those things.", Leslie chided.  
"I'll be fine.", he said before diving headlong into the in-depth chopping process.  
"Are you ok, Sakaki?", I finally had time to ask.  
"I'm fine. Just a bit worried about everyone else..", her voice trailed off.  
"Did you tell her about Kaorin?", Yomi asked.  
"What about Kaorin?", Sakaki's head returned to it's original position and her eyes opened in expectant fear.  
"Oh! HAHAH! I totally forgot about her!", Tomo laughed off her mistake.  
"What about Kaorin?", Sakaki's voice grew a little louder.  
"You should tell her.", Yomi said.  
"Yea, but..", Tomo began.  
"WHAT ABOUT KAORIN?", Sakaki practically yelled.  
Everyone stood dead silent. It was a vast rarity to hear Sakaki speak above a whisper, much less yell. Even Sess stopped his butchery to stare at her with blood covered blades. Tomo's mouth had dropped open and even Yomi gave a bizzare stare.  
"I..I'm sorry..", Sakaki said, turning red with embarassment.  
"No,no. It's ok.", Yomi reassured the flustered girl. "It's just that...Kaorin is in danger...that's why we're travelling. We need to rescue her from some guy who has her captive for god knows what reason.", Yomi said, turning a bit red herself.  
"So we gotta be heroes!", Tomo said with a very wide grin.  
"I'll make sure I do my best.", Sakaki said and wandered past us to sit by the fireside.  
Me, Tomo, and Yomi each shared glances before we took our own places by the warm fire.  
"Ok, we're ready!", Sess announced as he displayed three gigantic chunks of bloody meat placed on a thin rock. "Just gotta cook this and we'll be chowin' on some kick-ass stuff!", he said as he placed the rock amongst the blaze. Our mouths watered with anticipation. Wel, mine did at least, but we all looked starving. Except for the Soulforged. She just stared at the flames. That must have been boring. After a fairly violent struggle and some burnt hands on Sess' part he managed to pull the meat out of the inferno.  
"Here ya go guys!", he announced and handed us each a steaming hunk of meat. It was delicious to say the least. I managed to gobble mine down in a matter of seconds. As did Tomo. Leslie, Sakaki, and Yomi were more dignified in their eating habits. Sess ate his like a caveman. The Soulforged on the other hand didnt even touch the stuff.  
Noticing this Tomo spoke up, "Ya gonna eat that missy!", with an index finger pointed at the meat. The Soulforged shook her head and Tomo took the oppertunity to shove the steaming flesh into her gullet.  
"Man, that's good!", Tomo lay back looking quite satisfied.  
"Geez, Tomo! Talk about a glutton.", Yomi said.  
"Ahh, shush.", Tomo chided. "I'm just trying to...", her voice faded off as she fell fast asleep.  
"She can sleep anywhere. But, it wouldn't be a bad idea if we all got some rest.", Yomi told us all as she herself wrapped an arm around the sleeping Tomo and lay down beside her.  
"You got that right..", Sess said before he lay on the rocky ground.  
As I began to lay down the last thing that caught my eye was the Soulforged, awake as ever. I decided not to interfere and I let myself glide into unconciousness upon the horrendously uncomfortable rocks.

Light bit through my eyelids and I sat up. Yay, morning. Everyone save Tomo was wide awake. I looked at the Soulforged standing stiff like something unliving and doubted that she had slept at all. "Morning, Mr.Prior!", Yomi said sweetly as she sent a vicious kick to Tomo's backside.  
"OWW!", Tomo yelled and sat up, groggy as all hell.  
"Excellent, it's time to go.", Yomi said and tromped towards the waiting pack.  
We followed a trail cut from the rock itself across the deserted wasteland and under a huge white, ropy thing that resembled a spinal column.  
"The hell is that?", Tomo asked pointing at it.  
"Beats me.", said Sess.  
"...It's Dogaroga's Spine.", Sakaki whispered.  
"Doga-wha?", Tomo said in utter confusion.  
"I don't know what it does, but the man who nursed me called it by that name.", Sakaki answered.  
"Freakin' sweet.", Tomo said happily.  
We walked. And walked. The sun had reached it's apex by the time the ground colour began to change. The reddish-orange rocks and dust slowly began to change to a pale purple shade. Petrified trees blocked the trail before us and shells of rock structures covered the landscape.  
"The hell happened here?", Tomo, of course, asked.  
"We're getting close to Jeuno.", Sess said with excitement.  
Alas, we were close to Jeuno. Following the trail we soon spotted the gated bastion of Jeuno.  
"Wow...", Leslie whispered out of awe at the size of the gate.  
When we had passed the portcullis it seemed to me that we had reached the edge of the world. The ground stopped abruptly and in place of it was a tremendously long bridge stretching out over the water. People of all shapes and sizes were crossing the structure toward or away from the cylindrical Dutchy of Jeuno. We added our own footsteps to the array of travellers crossing into the great city of this world.  
"Jynark's Pressure-washer...", I said upon entering the city proper. The streets were filled with people. Jostling back and forth among the various doorways which above hung signs denoting their use. The four most prominant signs lauded airship travel to Bastok, Kazham, San D'Oria, and Windurst. A moment after noticing these I was able to witness an airship for myself. It began with a rumble. Every one of us turned our eyes to the sky to see a grat blue wonder pass overhead with great speed and power. It was amazing. I've seen better...,but it was still amazing.  
"Now...where is the palace...", Leslie said. It drew my attention away from the flying ship. She was right, where was the palace?  
"Should we ask somebody?", I suggested.  
"Yea, maybe someone around...", Yomi began. "Hey, where's Tomo and Sess?"

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Freakin' sweet. I can get a chapter or so done a week. A little slower than before, but eh, v.v SO, keep tuning in for the next installment woooo!

-peace-


	16. You Can Do It!

Oops...made a mistake...some of the previous chaper was accidentally submitted with this one so here's the REAL chapter ;;;

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"Oh..he wandered off again. Probably took Tomo to a casino or something. He's always doing stuff like that", Leslie said with exasperation.  
"I'll find them. Don't you worry", Sakaki said from behind us.  
"You sure, Sakaki?", Yomi asked.  
"Yea, I don't mind. You can all go find the palace and we'll meet you there.", Sakaki said with a small smile.  
"Ok, if you say so. Give Tomo a kick for me and I'll kick her myself when we meet up.", Yomi grinned. Sakaki smiled at this and walked away from us and into the swirling mass of people.  
"You trust her with the task?", Leslie asked.  
"Of course. I've known her forever.", Yomi responded.  
"If you say so. Come, let's find the palace.", Leslie said with a hint of jealousy in her voice. Yomi was way ahead of us.  
"Excuse me, Sir", she tapped the shoulder of a passing man in deep black armour. It seemed that every part of it was either spiked or resembled something atrociously evil. Certainly a go-getter in my book.  
"Yes, madame?", the horn-helmeted man responded in a voice about two octaves higher than it should be for a beastly male his size.  
"Um...do you happen to know where the palace is?", Yomi asked the scary looking guy.  
"Ah! You mean the Ru'Lude Palace!", he squeaked. "Simply go to the intersection down there.", he pointed a gauntleted finger at a small atrium. "From there take a left and keep following the stairs up. You'll reach teh gardens in no time.", he certainly was cheery for a man with a black scythe on his back.  
"Why thank you, Sir.", Yomi bowed.  
"Anytime, sweetie.", he giggled a fairly feminine giggle and plodded off.  
"No use standing around here.", Yomi said.  
We followed the man's directions. The atrium was bustling with people, as if the rest of the city isn't, right? At the center of the atrium was a stone compass that had an arrow pointing west. Whatever the hell that stood for. We climbed the stairs...and found another atrium. We climbed MORE stairs...and found another atrium. We climbed EVEN MORE stairs and finally, FINALLY came to the most glorious place I have ever seen. The entire garden was a garden of stone. White marble covered every inch of space. Except for the giant basalt obelisk in the center, of course. Looking over the side one could see the clouds below. It was absolutely beautiful. Across the garden from us stood the palace. Another edifice of white stone with arches galore. That was our goal. When the three of us recovered from glory shock we began our trek to the palace. The doors stood wide and guards were positioned nearby. As we approached one of the large pale creatures that composed one of the sentient races of this world blocked our path in his gold and white armour.

"Halt! What business do you have in the palace?", he accosted us in a gruff tone.  
"We need to speak wi...", Leslie began, but I finished.  
"We need to speak with Verechant"  
The creature raised an eyebrow. "Verechant? Who are you"  
"We're..", Leslie began again and I finished once more.  
"We're representatives of a friend of his. Jahlo Teshkondo"  
"Jahlo? ...By Altana..Please excuse me good people"  
He moved his tremendous form back to his place by the door. "Erik. Please take these guests to see Verechant.", he told the human guard who stood guard on the other end of the doorway.  
"Yes, Sir", the man saluted. "This way.", he motioned for us to follow.  
As we entered the palace Leslie whispered in my ear. "How on Vana'diel did you come up with that"  
"I'll tell you later", and I did plan to tell everyone about my nighttime visions of Jahlo.  
The man in clattering armour led us to a simple oak door on the second floor of the palace proper. He knocked softly.  
"S..Sir Verechant"  
"Yeeesss?", came the extended reply from beyond the door.  
"You have guests"  
"Who? I'm not expecting any guests!", the voice was becoming rather irritated.  
"T...they say they know Jahlo Teshkondo"  
"WHAT?", the door flew open and scared the holy hell out of all of us. Even the guard recoiled as the man swung the door back and stood in the doorway, flushed red. He was taller than any of us and had his flowing white hair tied back in a single braid that ran to the middle of his back. Spectacles rested atop his nose as he stood in the doorway dressed in regal red suitcoat and well pressed pants. He cast a acidic gaze across the people gathered before him.  
"You know Jahlo?", he addressed us from between clenched teeth. Yomi, Leslie and I each nodded, mouth slightly hung open. The Soulforged just stared, like she always does. He gave a short cough and stood straight to adjust his jacket.  
"Do come in.", he held the door wide so we could enter. "Please excuse the mess"  
Mess was right. Papers of all shapes and sizes lay strewn about the room. And where they could lay they floated upon invisible air currents around the vacinity. Every piece of furniture was absolutely covered in paper. It was my kind of place.  
"Oh, hehe.", Verechant chuckled in embarassment and cleaned us off a large couch to sit upon.  
"Now,", he said pacing the floor, "how do you know Miss Jahlo"  
"Umm...she saved me from some Mamool Ja near Al Zahbi and we travelled together to try and save my friend, which is the real reason we wanted to see...", I said, but was interrupted by Verechant's morbidly loud laughter.  
"I see she's still making friends with strangers. By the way where is she?", he asked, excited.  
"Ummm...", I didn't want to tell him of her fate. Well, I didn't, but apparently Leslie did.  
"She..is umm...deceased...sadly...I'm sorry..", she hung her head.  
Verechant was silent. He sat down wordlessly on a chair covered in papers. Pieces fluttered to the ground and went unnoticed. He let out a long sigh.  
"How?", he asked the wall.  
"She sacrificed herself to save us...", I told him.  
"...What do you want from me?", he muttered.  
"A guy in black took a friend of mine and he said he was working for Lord Eald'narche. Jahlo told me to come see you.", I said quickly. Leslie squinted her eyes at me. She obviously didn't know about the Jahlo thing.  
"...Was this friend of yours young and female?", he asked. I nodded.  
He gave a long sigh and stood up. "Was the man dressed in a black robe and wearing a metal eyeglass on one eye?" It's like he read my damn mind. Yomi, Leslie, and I all nodded vehemently.  
"...The Armathrwn Society. Altana damn them!", he swished the papers that lay on the floor as he walked swiftly to a box that sat atop a chest of drawers in the corner. We sat politely, casting glances at one another as he rummaged through the box throwing a myriad of items into the air. Eventually he came up for air holding a scroll of paper and a glistening black metal mace. Oh, it was my wet dream.  
He walked the items over to us and clearned his throat.  
"Eald'narche has really done it this time. Allow me to explain. Many years ago,when I was but a young man in the service of him and his brother Lord Kam'lanaut, they used a girl named Verena to open the long sealed Portal of the Gods. The plot to become gods was unsuccessful. They did not find Paradise. Years have passed and apparently he has found another 'living key' in the form of your friend. There is no time to waste, but I came prepared.", he explained to us. We could do nothing, but stare slack-jawed at him as he spoke. It was all too much to take in at once.  
"I expected this...are you listening?", we nodded in response. "Good. So, I have here a scroll, written upon it Ber'shakk's Lexicon. It's a spoken spell of unimaginable power used to magically seal places off from the rest of the world"  
"Ber'shakk's Lexicon?", Leslie practically fell out of her seat. "That spell is legendary"  
"Of course it is. And I just happen to have one of the few copies in existance. Bought it off a Goblin for twelve gil and a steel sword. Poor bastard had no idea what it was.", Verechant responded.  
I put two and two together and made five. "So,...what you gonna use that spell for"  
"To seal the Gate of the Gods of course. I am very glad I planned ahead for this day.", he gave a small cough.  
"Oh,...and the mace?", I drooled.  
"Oh, this? This is Azura. Say hi, Azura", Verechant said to the weapon.  
"Wut up?", came the response in a low voice from the weapon itself.  
"Gah!", the three sentient ones of the group yelled in suprise and drew back. The Soulforged kept sitting and staring blankly straight ahead.  
"HAHA!", Verechant laughed, "Azura has quite the sense of humour. Alas, he was once a Shrinekeeper of Ru'Avitau. He now resides in this weapon and can allow the user to draw upon his powers. Quite the advantage if you ask me"  
"What exactly..umm...does he do?", Yomi asked.  
"...I'm sure you'll figure that out!", he said and tossed us the two items. I caught Azura, it was weighted perfectly and felt great. I decided to adopt it as a replacement for Orphus. Poor Orphus. I wonder where he is now... Anyhow, Leslie caught the scroll and began to pick at the wax seal upon it.  
Verechant quickly stayed her hands.  
"For the love of Altana don't open it!", he gritted his teeth. "Phew, you could have sealed us all in the Empyrean forever"  
Yea, that certainly made me feel better. "You expect US to use them? We don't even know where to FIND Eald'narche or that guy that took Kaorin"  
"Oh, haha! Just ask Azura, I'm sure he knows.", Verechant smirked as he herded us out of his room. "Well, time for me to get back to work. You all hav e fun"  
He gave a grin and closed the door behind us rather loudly.

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Peril awaits! yea, so comment if you wish ;; I love reviews


	17. It Dwells on Me

Ok, awesome. It's gettin' good now isn't it? I certainly hope you think so. Escpecially you Miiake ;;. Well, here ya go! Enjoy.

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I slapped the black mace. "Hey Azura! Wake up"  
No response. Yomi gave it a whack. "Talk to us, numbnut"  
The object stirred a bit. "The hell you want?", it said in a deep voice.  
"Where do we have to go? Where is Eald'narche headed?", I said slowly as if talking to a three year old.  
"Why ya wanna follow that guy? He's an asshole.", Azura said.  
"JUST TELL US!", shouted Yomi.  
"Geez, bitch. Calm down. Just head to Delkfutt's Tower on Qufim Island. The activation device for where he wants to go is there.", Azura responded.  
"And where would this Qufim Island be?", I prodded.  
"Sweet Altana, you guys are hopeless. Qufim is right outside Port Jeuno.", Azura said.  
"Great, thanks.", I said and hung Azura from my belt loop as we began to walk back toward the palace entrance. As we neared the large frontal doors a shout reached out ears. What was being said was indecernable, but the voice was clearly female and quite familiar.  
"That sounds like Tomo.", Yomi stated. "And she sounds pissed"  
With that we quickened our pace towards the main gate. As we approached we could see the back of the white armoured giant and below his gaze was Tomo, jumping up and down, shouting at him. Sakaki stood behind Tomo with a look of indifference, then again she usually looked indifferent.  
"My friends are inside! Let me in you piece of shit!", Tomo was yelling at the guard.  
"Quiet, Tomo. We're right here.", Yomi said a we walked up to where she was ranting and raving.  
"Thank god! Sakaki found me and we rushed up here..and...and..", Tomo was strangely reduced to tears. Yomi clutched her and it was now that I noticed tears leaking from Sakaki's eyes also. "Hey, it's Lobo.", Leslie said pointing to the automaton that was standing idly behind Sakaki. "Where's Sess"  
,she asked.  
Sakaki lowered her head a bit more. "Dead.", she mumbled.  
"Dead? What? How?", Leslie was frantic and I was taken aback also. Actually the only one who didn't seem fazed was the Soulforged, but nothing surprised her.  
By this time Tomo had composed herself albeit a little more placid than usual.  
"He just...dropped dead. Sakaki came to get out of the casino and he just dropped down stone dead.", Tomo said with a sniffle.  
"No...who could..who..", Leslie was at a loss for words. I tried to comfort her with an arm around her shoulder.  
"I don't know...Guards herded us out too quickly.", Sakaki mumbled. "They took his body away"  
"Someone had to have seen something.", piped in Yomi.  
"They shut down the whole damn street. No one is allowed anywhere near the casino.", Tomo said.  
"Lobo...", Leslie perked up and rushed over to the little machine.  
"Can he even see?', I asked.  
"No no. Not see. He can lead though. If I can reset his core he will return to wherever Sess' automaton animator is being kept. Sess' body won't be too far away from that I would think.", Leslie smiled triumphantly.  
"Wow, you're full of ideas.", I said.  
"Always.",she responded as she removed Lobo's head covering to expose the electronics beneath. A twisting viper's nest of wires moved under her probing fingers. The rest of us crowded around her in curiosity.  
"Do you know what you're doing?", asked Yomi.  
"...Of course. Of course I do.", responded Leslie as she pulled from the mess a panel with a few small switches and dials upon it. "Ok, here's the core motherboard. If I do this right"  
She flipped two black switches and turned one of the dials 60 degrees to the right. With that Lobo creaked and began to lumber off across the gardens.  
"..he'll return to his animator.", Leslie smiled happily. " Let's go"  
We did just that. Following the little beast in and out of crowds within the gardens themselves and down the stairs to the lower part of Jeuno. Down three more flights of stairs he went with us in tow before a different sight met us. Instead of stairs there was a cave. And Lobo was entering it. Nervously, we followed him into the dank rock tunnel. It was nearly lightless save for the occasional oil torch here and there upon the walls. The air began to get colder as the cave yawned wider. Snow crunched beneath our feet while the cave floor began an upward slope. Lobo still plodded ahead of us mindlessly as Tomo, Yomi, Leslie, and I huddled together for warmth. Sakaki seemed content in her furs and the Soulforged was left out. She lives in her own little world.  
Light pierced the ink and the mouth of the cavern could be seen ahead. Snow dotted the rugged landscape which was crossed by a massive bone-like protrusion. It resembled the Dogaroga's Spine that we had seen in the mountains. Wandering about the snow fields were gigantic, primitive looking green monsters. They stood oven ten feet tall and were clothed only in a skin loincloth. They slouched as if their enormous arms were dragging their entire bodies down with them. They certainly didn't look smart, but you don't have to be smart to tear someone limb from limb. Lobo continued his plodding foward. I pulled Azura from my side as we walked.  
"Hey, where the hell are we?", I asked the weapon.  
"Congratulations! You jackasses found Quifim all on your own. I bet you're proud.", it responded. If the damn thing had a face I'd crack it one.  
"Why would they have taken Sess here...", Leslie wondered out loud.  
"HAH! Eald'narche is the killer, of course.", piped up Azura.  
"How do you know?", Yomi interjected.  
"I know a lot sweetheart. And what better way to lure you guys in, right? He kills your friend and takes the body. You come right to him. He wants you guys in Delkfutt's Tower. Simple as that.", Azura explained.  
"...Why didn't you tell us this before?", I asked.  
"You never asked.", Azura responded. If the damn thing wasn't necessary he'd have been thrown ten miles over by now.  
"So what do we do!", said Leslie, sounding terrified.  
"Well, you can run away and him and Kam'lanaut will become gods or you could go to him and take him down. Two choices ya got there sweetcheeks.", Azura responded.  
Lobo's footsteps could still be heard clomping off into the distance. It was no longer necessary to follow him. We had a decision to make.  
"I vote for a takedown.", I said with a grin and raised hand.  
"Yes,...that's what Sess woud have wanted.", Leslie nodded.  
"I agree", Yomi said.  
"Sure, why not?", Tomo shouted.  
"Of course.", muttered Sakaki.  
From there we assumed the Soulforged was on our side and set off for the tower. Alas, blocking our way was one of the huge green giants. It let out a low growl as it sensed us with it's sunken eyes.  
"Ah, piss. Now ya done it. A Gigas.", Azura said.  
I wielded Azura in my right hand. Man, it felt good to finally have a shaft to hold on to. Wait, that didn't come out right...Anyway, I struck my normal fighting pose that I hadn't taken in almost a year. Leslie stood back as Yomi and the Soulforged drew their blades. Sakaki unslung a hand axe from her belt. Before we were even ready Tomo took a pot shot with her gun at the beast. The damn thing was hard to miss, it was huge. Alas, Tomo missed the shot and the gigas became even more enraged.

With a roar is swung it's closed fist at Yomi, the closest target. She used her newly found magical energies to shield herself from the blow. Even so the strike sent her skidding back a few feet. I took this distraction to swing Azura at the beast's kneecap. It hit home with a thump that brought a scream of pain from the gigas.  
The monstrosity lashed out with a wild swing that sent me and Sakaki sailing across the snow fields. A mound of the frozen stuff broke my fall and I recovered easily. Sakaki had landed on her back and rolled a few feet before coming to a stop. I heard a call from the beast as I limped my way over to Sakaki's crumpled form. I turned my head in time to see the Soulforged sink her curved blade into the beast's muscular back. The green giant was trying to grab her off of it's back as it ran in a circular pattern at a loss of what to do. The Soulforged was simply planting her sword deeper and deeper into the knotted muscle of it's back.This situation led to Tomo putting a bullet in the thing's thick skull. It crashed to the earth with a resounding report. The Soulforged had flipped off the beast's back before it struck the ground with such ease as to say it was inhuman. Wiping my hands of the situation I tended to Sakaki. She was out cold. A small trail of blood led from within her violet hair down her smooth face and onto the untouched snow. "Leslie!", I called. "Man...I mean...girl down"  
Rushing over, Leslie removed Sakaki's bestial helmet gently so as not to agitate the wound. Applying her hands to the bleeding mass, she spoke a few arcane words.  
"Ek'nha zekki nish'amo kelda"  
Pure light shined from her palms and spread over the wounded girl's entire face. When the light dimmed Leslie stood up.  
"Good as new.", she announced.  
Sakaki's eyes fluttered before she opened them fully. A slight look of confusion followed by a smile crossed the pretty girl's face.  
"Thank you.", she said to Leslie as she stood once more upon her feet.  
"Everyone else ok?",Leslie asked.  
All of us nodded and we decided to set out once more. The tower could be seen peeking up from behind the high rocks that rose from the landscape. It wasn't a long walk. Just one filled with danger. The green beasts seemed to be around every corner. After consulting Azura he informed us that Gigas have terrible eyesight and to walk behind them if possible. Using this method it was easier than fifty year old prostitute to avoid the beings. We even laughed about it. Oh, the fun we had. A few minutes and an uneventful walk later we stood before the gates of Delkfutt's Tower. It rose hundreds of stories above our heads. Huge it was. And imposing. Terrifying even.  
"Man, this place looks creepy.", Yomi said with a shiver.  
"Nah! It'll be fun! We'll be heroes!", Tomo interjected.  
As we stood under the vaulted vesibule of the tower I gazed into the gloom before us. All I could see were white walls and floors as far as the shadows would allow. It was eerie.  
"Where in there would Eald'narche be? Do you know?", I asked Azura.  
"Right at the top. The Stellar Fulcrum"  
"Geez, think it sounds impressive enough?", I laughed a bit.  
"Impressive or not, he's goin' down!", Tomo cheered. This rose the morale a bit. Good for the troops.  
"Why don't you babies go on in?", Azura asked.  
"Yea, let's go.", I said and stepped into the eerie bone-like structure. That's exactly what it was like. Walking inside of a skeleton. All the walls and floors were carbon copies of one another. There were no differences whatsoever. If that wasn't bad enough the whole ground shaking thing that came next was icing on the cake.  
"Oh, did I forget to warn you about the security systems?", Azura said as the ground trembled with the approaching footsteps of something massave.  
"You're a piece of shit, Azura!", Yomi bursted out as, at the end of the hallway, our next challenge awaited us.

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hehe. Oh, what can it be? Epic battles await! Don't miss it!

-peace-


	18. The Soulforged

Soory it took so long. Been real busy. Stupid college. Anyhow, I've finally realized that this story is going to be a hell of a lot longer than I first imagined it to be. As long as you all don't mind (insert anime tongue face). Regardless, here ya go!

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Now, never before have I been afraid of dolls, but these dolls were terrifying. They weren't the cute little girl toys you might be used to. These were huge, brown and bent of thrashing us to hell and back. Two clomped from around a bend and proceeded towards us. They simply strided quite mechanically. Unliving things, of course.  
"Oh boy, Chaos Idols! Smash 'em up bucko!", Azura instructed me. Well, what else could I do but strike out at the nearest one. Azura clonked harmlessly against it's upper leg.  
"Ah, shit! Tomo, put a bullet in it!", I instructed. And I was rewarded. A moment later and Tomo had projected a bullet straight through the chest of the near statue. A small hole was cracked in it's outer shell, but it seemed uneffected. Leslie could be heard chanting from behind me as I ducked and dodged the flailing arms of the living idols. The acrid stink of magic casting followed a moment later as both statues were enveloped in a blue twirling pattern. Lines of energy twisted about the dolls for a moment before locking in a single position.  
"Quickly! They're bound!", Leslie shouted.  
"Dude, just hit 'em in the space between the chest plate and the legs.", Azura told me. I followed these instructions with a wide swing towards the thin, pinnacle-like object that held up the upper body of the doll. Upon contact the damn thing simply shattered. "Gods dammit!", I choked out my surprise as the statue crumbled to the ground.  
"All right!", Azura cheered me on. I felt proud of my damn self until Leslie's body knocked me to the ground. It wasn't even a good fall either. She had been catapaulted by the arm of the second doll. The wind was knocked out of me and I had a hard time trying to stand whilst supporting Leslie's stunned form. The statue had succeeded in knocking Tomo and Sakaki across the hallway as well. Both bodies were slumped against the bone-like walls unmoving.The Soulforged was doing her best to fend off the spinning, flailing arms of the arcane beast. Her sword absorbed the blows she could not dodge, but her arm buckled every time the beast struck the weapon. All of her antics were in order to form a splendid distraction for Yomi's magic casting. Yomi held out her hand, palm towards the doll as a roiling mass of fire erupted from her fingers and scorched towards the doll. It struck with a mass concussion that spat fiery globules of plasma into the air. The doll stumbled from the impact and rocked on it's feet.As I contemplated my own plan of attack everything seemed to change. The air became stale and the walls took on a cast that mocked the colour green. I had only a moment to register this change before trifold lances of pure azure light pierced the doll from multiple angles. The blue spears cut through the statue's 'skin' as if it were nothing more than leaves of a plant. The energy grew to such a degree that my eyes were momentarily blinded until the light died down and ultimately disappeared. As the cute little green spots faded from my vision I noticed the Soulforged standing where the doll had once been. There was no longer any evidence that the one doll had been here at all. The remains of the first doll still laid in a pile in the middle of the hall.  
"H..how?", I choked out as I helped Leslie to walk.  
"Beryl Wrath.", muttered...the Soulforged. I hadn't expected a response at all so I was totally floored when she spoke. Her voice came soft with a slight lilt to it. Even Yomi stopped in the process of helping Tomo and Sakaki to their feet to stare in awe at the newly vocal part of our group.  
"So you CAN talk!", shouted Tomo with an accosting finger directed at the turquoise warrior.  
"Yes.", muttered the Soulforged.  
"So, what's yer name?", Tomo certainly wasted no time.  
"The Soulforged.", came the response from below the veil.  
"That's it"  
"Yes"  
"How old..", Tomo began before getting a helping hand to close her mouth compliments of Yomi.  
"We have to get going. Time if of the essence.", Yomi said.  
"Yea, let's go.", I said after I made sure everyone was in well enough shape to continue. Except for a few heavy bruises and minor abrasions we were in fair shape.  
We followed the hallway until it forked to the right and left. Gazing down each corridor was the opposite of helpful due to the fact that everything looked the same.  
"Which way Azura?", I asked the weapon.  
"Oh...pfft...head left.", it responded after a moment. Following it's directions we followed the bone walls until they gave way to a vast room with a vaulted ceiling. The roof could hardly be seen, much less the door on the opposite wall.  
"Anything we should know about here?", Yomi asked mockingly to the weapon in my hand.  
"Umm..just don't step on the dark hexagons on the floor.", it said.  
"What happens then?", asked Tomo.  
"Umm...more security measures"  
The floor was pure white save for the oddly spaced patches of dark gray. The patches were hexagonal and fairly small compared to the rest of the room. "Well, that doesn't seem too hard.", I said as I stepped into the room. Oh, how those words haunt me to this day. My left footfall was approximately five feet away from the nearest hexagon, but that didn't stop it from rushing towards my feet.

"Holy shit!", I dove to the ground to avoid touching the moving floor piece. I was only safe for a moment as the gray marker rocketed back towards me. All I saw was a flash of blue followed by my being bodily dragged at some unholy speed a few inches above the deadly floor. Next thing I knew, there I was, back against the far door and the Soulforged standing next to me.  
"I'll help.", she muttered before once again moving so fast across the floor that the trap couldn't keep up with her if it tried.  
"Damn, that bitch is fast.", Azura said with a mote of awe in it's voice.  
"You don't have to tell me twice.", I said as the Soulforged reappeared near me to drop off Leslie.  
"Hmm...wow.", was all Leslie said as she brushed off her short robe.The Soulforged rushed back and forth three more times to carry Tomo, Sakaki, and Yomi across the doomsday floor.  
"You're awesome!", Tomo told the Soulforged with a pat on the back. The blue clothed wonder responded with a curt nod of her head.  
"What now?", I questioned Azura.  
"Well, ya see that door behind ya"  
"Yea...it has no handle.", I observed. It was simply a flat reccession in the wall. "Of course not. It's cermet. Hold me near it and you push against it. We'll see what we can do.", the weapon said.  
I braced my shoulder against the odd door and began to push. I pushed and pushed and pushed and pushed some more.  
"Uh...Mr. Pri..", was all Sakaki could get out before the door stopped resisting my force and I fell hard down on my shoulder.  
"Owww...", I moaned as Azura laughed at me.  
"HAHA! That's always funny"  
"Yea, yea.", I shrugged off the chide as I stared up the cermet staircase before us.  
"Where's this go?", Yomi asked.  
"Oh...all the way to the top floor of the tower. The Stellar Fulcrum", Azura said proudly.  
"...Is that good?", I asked.  
"Of course you ass! That's where Eald'narche would be.", said Azura.  
"Excellent. Let's go.", said Leslie, leading the way defiantly. We all agreed in quick succession and began our trek upstairs. We were certainly excited at the time.  
An hour later we certainly weren't when we were still trudging up those endless winding stairs.  
"Gods, when does this end?", I said torturously.  
"Yea, really. I'm bored!", Tomo whined.  
"Oh, quiet! You're almost there.", Azura responded. With a huff and puff I asked, "What would have happened if we stepped on those gray things on the floor"  
"Incinerated, drowned, electrocuted, crushed by rocks, ripped to shreds by a tornado, or frozen solid.", Azura explained.  
"Great..", I answered.  
"Hey, look up ahead!", Leslie called. Lo and behold,up ahead was another cermet door. This one though was heavily engraved and otherwise dolled up. Pillars and arcane scrawlings surrounded the door, making it look like the entrance to a palace.  
Standing in front of the gate, the Soulforged spoke, "Qe'Iou Gate"  
"Huh?", I asked.  
"A Zilartian word meaning 'central'.", Azura clarified.  
"So this is where Eald'narche is? Do you think Sess' body was taken here too?", Leslie asked.  
"Can't say for sure.", said Azura. "But it's a good bet Sess' remains will be here"  
"So how do we...", I began, but the door had aleady slid open. Inside was an amazing sight. Glowing,blue lines lead to a main core that sat in the center of the large, vaulted room with catwalks leading to it. Below the center platform was a vast, slowly rotating blue crystal that emitted acres of power. The recessed area we had entered into was below the amazing scene before us. There seemed to be no one but us within the giant room.  
"The hell is that?", asked Tomo, pointing to the crystal.  
"That's the..", Azura began.  
"That's the Chrysalis Core. And you're all just in time.", came a lilting voice from above us. Looking up, I saw a small child. No older than 12 or 13. He was standing at the edge of the platform in his long gray robe and bobbed blonde hair. One eye was covered by a black patch.  
"Ah, Lord Eald'narche. Long time no see.", Azura spoke. I recoiled. I'm sure everyone else did too. This kid was the feared and evil Lord Eald'narche? I couldn't believe it. Like hell I was gonna let a kid wreck the world.  
"...Azura? It seems you've been a bit...disposed.", he threw his head back and laughed.  
"Shut it asshole! Where's Kaorin? And what have you done with Sess?", Leslie screamed. Totally unlike her to raise her voice.  
"Oh? Did the little automaton lead you here?", he laughed again. "Following this I presume.", the kid grinned and brought from his pocket a cruxiform object a little larger than one's hand.  
"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO TO SESS?", yelled Leslie again at the top of her strained voice. By now she was choked with tears and couldn't speak normally. I'm sure we all felt a little distraught at the situation. I wanted to cry too.  
"What better way to obtain the Spiritform needed to unlock the Core.", he laughed and tossed the cross-like object from the platform. It clattered upon the cermet floor. "And your little friend. She is my key.", with a small wave of his hand Kaorin appeared immediately next to him. Her eyes were blank and she was dressed in something..umm..far more revealing than a girl her age should be wearing.  
"Let her go gods dammit!", I couldn't help but scream.  
"And what are you going to do about it? I'll rend each of you limb from limb without effort.", Eald'narche spoke.  
"We'll kill you, you bastard!", screamed Tomo defiantly.  
"Idiots. When I break all the seals and unlock the gate to Ra'Nau I shall be even more unstoppable than I am now! The Zilart shall once more rule all of Vana'diel!", he proposed with a tremendous head-thrown-back laugh. He certainly was over the top.  
"Never.", muttered the Soulforged.

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kekekekeke! What ya think of dem apples? Hope you all enjoyed it. Like my new Zilartian place name? Ra'Nau? Y'know, similar to Tu'Lia and Al'Taieu. But where is it? OoOOoooo,mystery.

-peace-


	19. A Bad Case of Bad Karma

"Well, if you're that sure of yourselves...prepare.", upon saying this Eald'narche swept back his grey coat and removed his feet from the ground to float a few inches in the air. Panicing,I hoisted Azura before me. I guess Tomo just couldn't help herself and decided to shoot off a round at the levitating kid. Her bullet seemed to ping off an invisible barrier surrounding him.  
"Fools!", Eald'narche screamed and dove through the air toward our position, laughing the entire time. A few meters above our heads he stopped his downward fall and let loose a burst of tremendous energy. The invisible force threw each of us for a whirl. All I know was that it hurt like hell to be skidding across that hard floor at a pretty fair speed. When I finally came to a stop I opened my sore eyes to look at Eald'narche. He was still floating in the same spot where he had stopped. The bodies of my comrades were scattered about the white floor. Even the seemingly unstoppabe Soulforged was lying on the ground in obvious pain.  
"If you all give up so easily, how do you expect to win?", Eald'narche smirked.  
"I won't give up!", yelled Leslie, now standing on her own two wobbly legs.  
"Oh, we have a fighter.", Eald'narche mocked.  
It was hell trying to stand up, but I did manage to do it. "I won't give up either"  
"Me neither!", said Yomi.  
"Neither will I!", this time it was Tomo.  
"I won't give up.", said Sakaki.  
"Never.", muttered the Soulforged.  
Eald'narche laughed. "Glad to know. Maybe I'll keep you around a bit longer, and kill you once the Zilart rule again!" He returned to his spot beside Kaorin and settled his feet upon the ground. "Now my sweet girl,", he kissed Kaorin's cheek, "open the seal"  
Kaorin, her eyes still glazed over, fell to her knees robotically in the center of the glowing platform. The glow increased as a deep murmur of sound arose inside the room. A moment later a vastly bright shaft of pale blue light shot from the crystal, up through Kaorin, and out the ceiling of the room. Like hell.  
"STOP IT! STOP IT NOW!", I screamed uncontrollably running towards the platform.  
Eald'narche couldn't stop laughing. "It's too late! The seal to Tu'Lia has been broken once more! We shall not fail this time! This time we shall be glorified"  
The light had grown too bright, the energy too strong. I fell to my knees, ears dripping blood from the incredible release of energy. Suddenly the light died and I was able to look once more. The light had faded and Eald'narche was standing beside the prone Kaorin on the platform.  
"I have to take my key with me. I'll leave the remains of your friend Sess though, as a parting gift. I'll be waiting." ,with a smirk and a small flash of light him and Kaorin were gone. In there place was the cold corpse of our friend Sess. I really felt like crying now.  
"NO! NOO!!", Leslie was inconsoleable as she bawled on the floor. Pounding her fist uselessly against the cermet and dripping large tears. "He...Sess can't be dead...I won't believe it"  
I whispered consoling words in her ear as I helped her to her feet. She was wiping away her tears with a sniffle as we walked the catwalk to the middle platform where the others already were. The Soulforged placed her fingers against Sess' cold neck.

"Dead.", she stated and sat up.  
"NO! NONONO!", Leslie wrenched herself from my grip and threw herself bodily over Sess' corpse. "I..I'll save him!", she stammered and began a series of arcane spells. Ten raise spells later nothing had occured save a few shiney lights. She recessed into uncontrolled sobbing. Yomi tried to console her with a hug and a few gentle words, but she would have nothing to do with it. She stood once more, eyes dripping.  
"I know...", she said and stood on the edge of the platform, gazing down into the crystal abyss below.  
"What...", Yomi began.  
"No...",Sakaki whispered.

I had no idea, oh, dumb, dumb me. A moment later she let herself fall. There was nothing I could do. Nothing any of us could do. Ok, nothing any of the NORMAL people could do. Within a second one cerulean strand of pure energy wrapped around Leslie like a living ocean. Her body went limp as the Soulforged maneuvered the azure line so as to place Leslie's prone body safely on solid ground once more. As the power dissapated Yomi had beaten me to her side and was checking her vitals.

"She's asleep.", she said with a smile of gratitude towards the Soulforged.  
"What do we do about Sess?", Tomo asked.  
"Just bury him. Eald'narche took his soul to power the Chrysalis Core. Sess is gone and there's nothing you can do about it.", Azura said without much emotion.  
"Allow me.", spoke the Soulforged.  
"Umm..ok..", I agreed.  
She knelt down beside the body and placed her gold-gauntleted right hand over his chest. Instantly, and for lack of a better word, azure light encompassed his Sess' corpse. Everyone simply looked in amazement as the light faded and the body was no more. Gone. Ka-poof.

Seeing our looks of confusion the Soulforged spoke up, "Incineration"  
Yomi stood, her eyes glaring heavily, "He deserved a proper burial. He was our friend"  
"It doesn't matter. His soul is now privvy to Eald'narche's power. That body could hardly be considered him.", Azura interrupted.  
With one last glare, Yomi turned away, "We should get going"  
"Yea, I'm hungry!", Tomo whined.  
"I am also starving.", Sakaki said with a nod.  
Yea, I was pretty unfed too. Poor us. "Hey, Hey, Leslie.", I said whilst slapping the face of the unconcious girl lightly. She seemed to be out for the count.  
"Guess ya gotta carry her, Mr. Prior!", Tomo joked.  
"Haha...why don't one of you carry her?", I said in retort.  
Yomi and Tomo burst out laughing. "I'll carry her.", Sakaki said from behind me.  
"Umm..", I turned my head to face her, "I was joking. Hehe"  
Too late though. Sakaki already had Leslie over her shoulder and didn't seem to mind bearing the weight of her body ALLLLLL the way down the stairs and across the barren wastes of Qufim Island. Luckily, we were safe from the Gigas under the cover of the fallen darkness. After bumping into a few walls along the way, we returned to the bustling city of Jeuno.

Jeuno nightlife was in full swing. Music eminating from every lit bar and restaurant along the many streets of the metropolis. A bunch of beat up, dirty people including one girl carrying another unconcious girl didn't seem to be a strange sight to the various partygoers and night-fanatics we passed on the way to the closest inn. "Cat's Tail Inn" was what the sign said. Sakaki was the first one in the door. Even the extra weight of Leslie wouldn't stop her from entering an inn named after her favourite animal with the speed of a track star.  
The warm aromas of cooking foods and the simple joy of comfortable light were the beast things I could have asked for at that moment in time. We approached the check-in counter looking like a bunch of burglers. A bunch of burglers with an unconcious woman.  
"Room for...?", the stout man asked, obviously staring at poor Leslie.  
"Six.", Sakaki said quickly.  
"Umm..yea...two rooms for three is that ok?", the man said.  
"It's fine.", Sakaki responded, looking nervous.  
"Ok...here ya go.", the man said holding out two keys.  
These were quickly snatched up by Sakaki's one free hand as she motioned for us to follow her upstairs. I flashed the man a cynical grin as he responded with a shrug. Up the stairs we went and entered into the room Sakaki had unlocked. The room was furnished with three comfy looking beds, a single lamp and a few gew-gaws to make the place look nice. It was clean and smelled good too. Like lemons.

Sakaki had desposited Leslie on the closest bed to the door and was already on her way out as we walked in. She pushed past me and walked down the stairs.

"I gotta...go to the bathroom.", I said and backed out of the room, leaving everyone else to make themselves at home. I was curious. Sakaki was acting a bit strange, but I had an idea why. I needed to make sure though...simply to slate my curiosity.

Clonking my way down the stairs and wandering into the main lobby I found Sakaki with the namesake of the inn. It was a cute blue-ish tabby with a striped coat and big oceanic eyes of brown. It was also latched solidly onto Sakaki's right hand.  
"Oh, geez! Shoo! Bad kitty!", I said as I gave the feline a few nudges in order for it to detatch it's jaws from Sakaki's digits. The animal did finally let go and mewled as it retreated into the dining room. I held Sakaki's bloody hand tenderly.

"Crap, are you ok?", I asked. Blood was beading up from the four puncture wounds. Two on her palm and an identical pair on the back of her hand.  
"I'm fine. It happens all the time.", she said, pulling her hand away gently.  
"Umm..ok..", I responded.  
"Is everyone upstairs still?", she asked.  
"Um..yea.", I said.  
"Good. Let's go back"  
We ascended the staircase once more and entered the one room. Leslie was awake and talking with Tomo and Yomi. The Soulforged was leaning against the far wall, staring into space.  
"I'm sorry Leslie that..", I began to apologize for some reason.  
"Don't worry...They explained what happened.", she motioned to Tomo and Yomi. "It was my fault. I overreacted. All I can do now is promise to stop Lord Eald'narche. It's what Sess would have wanted"  
"Well, then you better listen up.", came Azura's voice from the weapon slung at my side.  
"I'm listening.", she said as we all glanced at the weapon attentively.

"First of all, it's just gonna get tougher from here on out. Tu'Lia is our next destination. It's my home. I can lead you around there, but I can't guarentee your safety. There's much danger. The seal there lies in the Celestial Nexus atop Ru'Avitau Shrine. After that seal I dunno what happens. That's where my knowledge breaks down. I had never even heard of Ra'Nau before Eald'narche mentioned it. If his plan now is the same as last time, it has certainly changed. He seems far more cruel and determined this time around. So, I'm just warning everyone that this'll not be easy in the least. And if you want your friend back safely we better not waste much time."

The Soulforged nodded, "I agree." This was followed by nods of approval from the rest of the crowd. "Ok, so we're in agreement. Tomorrow we head to Tu'Lia or whatever.", I said.  
"YEA! Let's Get 'em!", Tomo shouted.  
"We can only hope.", spoke Azura.

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(anime happy face) hope you enjoyed it...

-peace-


	20. Worlds Within the Margins

Hey there! Oh, and Miiake, soory for the confusion about Sakaki. In Azumanga Diaoh, Sakaki loves animals (hence the beastmaster job), yet animals don't love her. Her favourite is cats by far, yet every time she tries to pet one it latches it's jaws onto her hand. She always acts strange around animals because she is embarassed that everyone else thinks she's cool and collected yet on the inside she adores cute animals. Hope that clears that up. Enjoy! Oh yea and YAY! The story is now over 30,000 words and fits the criteria to be officially called a novel! woooo!

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My stomach grumbled. "But before we embark upon this epic journey, I need some gods damn food"  
"Good idea.", Tomo said and rushed for the door. "C'mon guys"  
Leslie, Yomi and Sakaki nodded in agreement and joined us by the door.  
"No food.", the Soulforged said and sat herself down on the bed. Shrugging off the girl, we exited teh room and followed the enticing scent of cooking downstairs into the dining room. The room sparkled with an almost sterile look. The tables, chairs, carpet, and practically everything else was spotless in the rather small room. I counted 10 tables and only 3 of them were occupied. Two men dressed in an outfit similar to the one Yomi was wearing sat at a table in the far corner speaking to one another. Another was occupied by a woman dressed in brown wearing a tall hat. She picky idly at her plate and kept looking towards the door. At the last occupied table sat an old, grungy man wearing a plain brown tunic and gulping down none other than friend chicken. My mouth began to water. Friend chicken was my number one favourite food item of all time, and I've had a lot of food. I've even killed for it before. Anyhow, as I looked into the room an unaturally chipper teenage girl dressed in an apron approached us.

"Table for five?", she asked, far too happily.  
I nodded to her.  
"Excellent, would you like to try our new Specialty Table"  
"Umm..sure.", I agreed. I heavily wondered how a table could be 'specialty.  
"Ok! Follow me"  
She led tehe five of us to a table near the two men dressed in red. Pulling up chairs, we sat down around the circular table. No sooner had we sat down then a horn sounded. Looking up in surprise, thre mirror balls descended from the ceiling to hang over our heads. The lights flashed a myriad of colours as confetti rained from above. A minute or so passed with flashing, multicoloured lights; mirror balls, confetti and very loud techno music that sounded like every other electronic song I've ever heard. All of a sudden it all stopped. The lights turned back to the normal white, the mirror balls retreated into holes in the ceiling and each of us stared at one another, covered in small, colourful pieces of paper.

"The hell was that...?", Tomo asked anyone who may have an answer.  
"That was our special event! Wasn't it fun!?", the girl said happily, a large smile plastered almost perminantly on her face.  
We were speechless. It's not everyday that simple eating turns into a techno rave. She handed us each a laminated menu with that smile still apparent on her cute face.  
"I'll be back when you're ready.", she said and skipped off.

"'Bout time...", I mumbled. Leslie glared over her menu at the remark.Brushing off the confetti, I perused the menu. Most of the food sounded foreign. Such as Nebominite Bake, Yayla Corbasi, and Sutlac. There was no mention of fried chicken. I DISTINCTLY saw the man eating fried chicken.

"I'm having carbonara.", Leslie announced.  
"Well, I'm gonna get smoked salmon.Mmmmm", Tomo said, licking her lips.  
"I'll have..hmm..tonosama rice balls.", Yomi decided.  
"What 'cha gettin Sakaki?", Tomo asked the silent girl.  
"Cat Tail Surprise.", she murmured. I should have known it.  
"What you gettin' Mr.Prior?",Tomo asked me next.  
"I dunno...I saw that guy eatin fried chicken, but it's not on the damn menu.", I said with a bit of irritation.  
"What guy?", asked Leslie.  
I pointed out the old man that was still picking at his fried chicken.  
"Oh,", she said, "That's not chicken. that's fried cockatrice"  
"...It any good?", I asked.  
"It tastes like..umm..", she thought for a moment, "..like dhalmel mixed with a little bit of coeurl.", she concluded.  
Like hell I knew what that tasted like. The teenage waitress bounced her way happily back to our table.  
"Ready to order?", she said.  
We each placed our orders, but when I told her I wanted fried cockatrice she gave me a grave look.  
"I'm sorry, Sir. That dish is only reserved for important dignitaries and visiting delegates"  
"Then why does that guy have it?", I pointed out the old man still chewing on his bones.  
"That man, Sir is Captain Phillius Desmark, leader of the Jeunoan Guard.", she sounded offended by my ignorance.  
"Well, Ma'am", I stood up and heft Azura above my head impressively, "I am Lord Heronious Fillgrek, king of the lost Minoan kingdom, come to Jeuno for rest and political business.", godly music would have followed this false statement, but instead it was Azura's voice.  
"Yea, give him the food"  
Seemingly startled and maybe a bit scared the girl bowed quickly and retreated through the kitchen door. I sat down with a wide, wide grin on my face. I was so absorbed in my own small accomplishment that I didn't notice the two men in red approaching our table.  
"Are you truly the king of the Minoans?", the gray haired, older man asked me with wide eyes.  
"Y..yes, yes I am.", I played along with the ruse. I could hear Tomo trying not to burst out in laughter.  
"OH! We must interview you, Sir!", the younger, long haired man said excitedly.  
"After dinner, good sirs, I will meet you in the lobby.", I said haughtily.  
"Oh, that would be grand, Sir. We'll be waiting patiently.", the older man said. Both gave a curt bow and left the dining room.  
I turned back to the table with a canyon-like grin on my face.  
"Why did you do that?", Yomi and Leslie asked almost simultaniously.  
"Cuz it was fun?", I asked no one in particular.  
Sighs followed along with Tomo's yell of "All right!" and the slapping together of our hands.  
"Hey, they might know something.", I said.  
"Like what?", Yomi asked.  
"I dunno..something about Lord Eald'narche and his plans.", I shrugged. I didn't believe that myself.  
"Hey,", whispered the voice of Azura, "Those guys are from the Jeuno Chronicle. It's a newspaper"  
"Oh, crap...this should be fun.", I mused.  
"Did you even know that Minoa was an actual civilizaion on this planet and that it fell into ruin ages ago?", Leslie asked very, very seriously.  
"No...", I admitted. I had heard 'Minoan' at some point in my travels. Can't quite recall when or where.  
"Then you're in for a surprise.", she said.  
"I'm sure I can formulate something.", I said. She grinned at me disbelievingly.  
The super happy hyper waitress returned with 5 steaming plates of food in her hands.  
"Have a nice meal!", she said once she had handed us our respective plates and bounced away as bubbly as ever. I drooled at the breaded, deep-fried delicacy on my plate before me. I picked it up gingerly and bit into the soft flesh. I wanted to vomit fourty times over. The deep-fried cockatrice tasted like deep fried ass. It was horrible to no end. Yet, I ate every bit. Needless to say, I was very hungry. I wiped my chin with a napkin and stood up from the table. "I'ma go get my interview done then head off to bed. See ya in a bit.", I grinned with confidence and left the table with a wave. Walking from the dining room, I entered the lobby. Both men were perched on the edge of the suede loveseat as I approached.  
"Have a seat, Sir.", the older man tipped his feathered hat towards a comfortable looking chair the colour of blue.  
I sat down and sank into the comfort of the deep cushons.  
"Ask away.", I said non-chalantly.  
The older man coughed and began to speak. Then the younger man leaned foward and excitedly spoke.  
"Where is Minoa"  
"Far, far away...to the west.", I pointed in a random direction.  
"How has Minoa survived"  
"Cooperation with...people of the..state..", I said ambiguously.  
"Wha..", he began, but was stopped by the older man.  
"Calm down, Jesi. We have to pose our questions truthfully and with poise.", he said.  
"Yes, Sir...", lamented Jesi.  
"Ok, King Heronious Fillgrek, why have you come to Jeuno?", the old man said calmly, hands folded.  
"I wish to meet with one Lord Eald'narche.", I hit upon a perfect oppertunity.  
"Ah, Lord Eald'narche. I have written many articles about him.", the man said with a nod.  
"What do you know about him?", I asked with an honest smile.  
"Well,", he began, "five years ago Eald'narche set out to become a god. He and his brother, the Duke of Jeuno, thought they had found the Gate of the Gods. They were wrong and were defeated by a group of rebels that did not wish for their godhood"  
"So, to some he is a hero?", I asked.  
"Yes.", the man nodded, "Lord Eald'narche and Duke Kam'lanaut have brought Jeuno much prosperety and wealth. If they were to be immortal Jeuno could truly last forever"  
"How did he try to obtain this godhood?", I asked, trying my damndest to sound convincing.  
"So, now you're asking the questions eh?", Jesi leaned towards me.  
"Quiet Jesi, this man can ask all the questions he wishes.", the older man reprimanded.  
Jesi sat back with an audible grunt of displeasure and crossed his arms.  
"Lord Eald'narche's first task was to open the long dormant gate to Tu'Lia. Tu'Lia is called the Gate of the Gods because according to legend it is where the Goddess Altana rests. Upon going to Tu'Lia, Eald'narche found no goddess or any method of godhood. Thus he was then defeated by the rebels. Him and Kam'lanaut returned to Jeuno in secret and now live quietly in the palace. It saddens me that the two men could not attain their goals. Jeuno could have prospered.", the old man gazed languidly at the carpet.  
"What is Tu'Lia like?", I asked.  
"According to legend, Tu'Lia is a floating shrine built by the Zilart. Made from pure cermet, it thrives with plants and the only living creatures upon that island are the Shrinekeepers"  
"The Zilart?", I questioned. Man, this was too easy.  
"You certainly ask a lot of questions.", Jesi interjected.  
"Sit outside, Jesi. I cannot have you disrespecting the King of Minoa.", the old man raised his voice.  
"Fine.", Jesi shrugged and exited the building, the oak door slamming behind him.  
"I apologize, Sir. He is young and foolish. By the way my name is Beron.", the old man told me.  
"Pleased to meet you.", I shook his hand politely, "But, please, tell me about the Zilart"  
"Ah, yes. The Zilart were a race that existed upon Vana'diel long before any of the other five races. Humes like you and me came long after the Zilart were destryoed by a vengeful Altana and the Terrestrial Avatars. The world was shaken apart. The only reminants of the Zilart are their monuments. The cermet monoliths of Delkfutt's Tower, Fei Yin, the Crags of Dem, Holla, and Mea, the fabled creations of Tu'Lia, Ra'Nau, and their Celestial Capital of Al'Taieu. After their fall the first civilizations of the current races appeared. This is supposedly when your country of Minoa was formed.", Beron told me.

"Ah, yes, I know of the Minoan creation story, but us Minoans do not know about the Zilart.", I lied to him.  
"It is a great piece of history, the Zilart. Some say they're still around, somewhere.", Beron mused.  
Oh, how I wanted to tell him. "Let us say they do exist. What do you think would happen if they returned once more to rule the planet?",I asked.  
"A great war...I would assume. Far worse than the current beastman wars. The Zilart are powerful creatures. It was said that they were second only to gods.", Beron clucked his tongue in thought. That sure boosted my spirits. The kid we were up against was from a race 'second only to gods.  
"How could the races of Vana'diel defeat the Zilart"  
"That..I truly do not know..", Beron sighed. I yawned, I was tremendously tired. I had had enough fun playing with this poor soul and had garned quite a bit of info about our enemy.  
"I tire, good sir. Would it be alright if I retired for the night?", I asked politely.  
"It is late. I don't blame you. Good night, Sir. It was great talking with you. Talking like this was fa more interesting than any interview, so I thank you.", Beron stood up as I did and shook my hand briskly.  
"Good night.", I called over my shoulder as I mounted the stairs up to my room.  
"Sleep well, Sir.", Beron turned out the door and went into the Jeunoan night.  
"What do you think of all that?", I asked Azura.  
"Hmm...", he hummed," I didn't know all THAT about the Zilart, I just thought they were tough dudes. But second to gods...very strange indeed.Yet understandable"  
I flopped myself upon the only open bed once I reached the room I was staying in. I had to share it with the Soulforged, who didn't seem to be actualy sleeping; and Sakaki, who was sleeping soundly probably dreaming of kitties.

Once more I found myself floating in the deep, cold darkness, and once more the azure light shined before me. From that light came the familiar form of Jahlo, dressed in a gossamer blue robe. She beckoned me to enter the light. I felt compelled to follow my friend, she had yet to lead me wrong. The blueness opened into a scene of peace. Tall white towers protruded from what looked to be the ocean. I could tell that because the air seemed to flow and distort the image slightly. The towers surrounded a large building similar to the white collossal structures that Leslie had called 'crags'. Floating above the building was a swirling orange morass. Power couruscated within the whirling portal.

"What is this?", I asked the unseen Jahlo.  
"Witness the Gate of the Gods...", she responded. Within moments the vision faded. Dammit.

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Thanks for reading everyone! It's because of you that I have now written my first novel! There's plenty more to come so keep reading! (man, that made me sound like some crappy rock star)

-peace-


	21. Privy to the Knowledge of the Stars

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I awoke with a start. Heavily breathing and drenched in sweat. Sakaki and the Soulforged were unmoving, peaceful. I looked over the side of my bed to the spot on the floor where I had placed Azura.  
"Hey, Azura", I whispered.  
"Hmm?", the weapon replied.  
I picked the mace up. "Come with me"  
I quietly opened the door and walked out, making sure not to awaken anyone. I practically tiptoed down the wooded stairs to the front door of the inn. The desk clerk was asleep in his chair, his fat belly rising and falling with each breath. The dining room was totally empty and darkened. Reaching the door, I slowly opened it and exited the building. The streets of Jeuno were dark save for the lights in windows and the tall lamp posts along the edges of the street. I leaned against the cold stone wall and held Azura in front of me.

"I had a dream.", I told him.  
"So? You brought me out here to tell me you had a dream? Sissy..", he lamented.  
"It's a reoccurring dream.", I said.  
"About what? You miss your mommy already?", he joked.  
"Yea, that too, but...it's about a dead friend..she talks to me in these dreams and shows me places I've never seen"  
"Oh? What sorts of places"  
"Well, first off, she told me to find Verechant...and I did...now she shows me a place that looks to be built of the same stuff as Delkfutt's Tower"  
"Well, only the Zilart built structures like that. What did the place look like"  
"A main building surrounded by towers made of the same material. The vision was blurred. Kind of like water. There was also this huge, swirling, orange portal over the top of the building"  
"Hmm...definately Zilartian...I dunno what it is though.", Azura sighed.  
"Hmm...",I was disappointed.  
"Who is the person that talks to you in these dreams?", he asked.  
"Jahlo Teshkondo...she knew Verechant and told me to find him. Thus, I found you. Do you know her"  
"Damn, why didn't you tell me this earlier?! Jahlo was one of the people that defeated Lord Eald'narche the first time he tried to become a god. She was one of the people that decided to seal my conciousness in this weapon in case Eald'narche ever tried to pull it off again.", Azura said.

"But you don't know what she was trying to show me?"

"I'm no expert about the Zilart, I just worked for them. Besides, the Zilart built many structures that are still around. Delkfutt's Tower, Fei'Yin in the north, Tu'Lia in the sky, the crags...so there could be another place that no one has found yet. A lost Zilart city."

I sighed. "I guess we should just focus on Tu'Lia for now. Try and stop Eald'narche there"  
A boot scuffed against the ground behind me. "I won't allow you to stop the plan of Lord Eald'narche! He will finish his task in the great capital of the ancient Zilart"  
The voice was familiar. Yet, one I didn't feel like hearing at this time of night. I turned to face Jesi. His face was a huge grimace of anger as he stood in the semi-darkened alleyway beside the inn.

"Been waitin' for me?", I said mockingly.  
"You had to come out some time, False King.", he said with a grin.  
"I'm sorry,bro, but Lord Eald'narche is a dangerous kid. He has one of my friends captive and is using her as a tool in his plans to become a god"  
"I...I don't care!", Jesi stumbled over his words, "I can't let you destroy the future of Jeuno"  
He drew his rapier from his side. It was a heavily decorated item that looked tremendously expensive. Most likely, it was one of those weapons usually meant for display.  
"C'mon man! I don't wanna fight you!", I waved my hands in front of me in panic.  
"But I wish to fight you!", he swung his blade in a westward arc that clipped a mote cloth of my robe off. No one rips my robe. No one. I held Azura defencively, crouched slightly, ready to spring.  
"I can't let Lord Eald'narche become a god! All he wishes to do is rule the world!", I told Jesi.  
"You lie. You spill nothing but hate.", he moved quickly for a thrust that I managed to parry with Azura.  
"I'm not lying. He wants to be the Zilartian ruler of the entire planet.", I tried to convice him.

"The Zilart no longer exist you foolish False King. How dare you soil Lord Eald'narche's name by aligning him with the villanous Zilart?", Jesi swung four quick slashes that I dodged and countered with a strike from Azura that literally crumpled his defence. The black mace struck his collarbone and it gave way. An audible crack was heard followed by a sharp intake of breath from Jesi. He clutched his injured area gingerly with his hand. "Fool! You'll pay for your slander!", he insisted and bolted down the dark alleyway beside the inn.  
"Don't follow him.", Azura told me as I was about to pursue the fleeing man.  
"Won't he tell somebody about me?", I asked.  
"No, he's too scared. He's scared to believe what you told him"  
"Is he?", I was surprised.  
"Yes, didn't you see his tears? Even before you struck him he was crying. Scared to death that what you were saying is true. He has to figure this shit out for himself"  
At that moment I almost felt sorry for the young man. I guess at an early age he was taught to look up to the leaders and not question them. Now that someone has said otherwise, he is terribly confused.

The door to the inn opened and closed. I heard soft footsteps behind me. I turned to see Sakaki, dressed in only the baby blue bathrobe given to everyone by the inn. She was gazing at me, confused.  
"I thought I had heard something out here.", she said.  
"Oh, it was nothing. I just needed some fresh air.", I answered.  
She grinned at me knowingly. "I saw you fight that man you were with earlier. He was crying when he ran...", she looked despondantly at the cobbled street.  
I gulped. I hope no one else had seen. "He's just confused. He'll figure things out"  
She nodded without looking up. "I hope so.", she looked up once more. "Mr. Prior? Can I take a walk with you"  
I nodded easily. "Of course"  
"Good. I want to talk about Kaorin...", she said as her face flushed.  
"Well, c'mon then.", I prodded.  
She trotted over and we began to walk the darkened streets together. We kept to the main streets lest some mugger see us as ideal prey.  
"I'm worried about Kaorin.", she said.  
"Heh...I think we all are"  
"No,...I'm worried about more than that...", she said.  
"Oh?", I asked.  
"Kaorin is...well, for a long time me and her have been the only ones to speak about her power"  
"Power?", I asked curiously.  
"For as long as I've known her we've had this sort of strange bond. This...mind speak. We have come to the conclusion that we're connected at the mind. Sort of like sisters, but not.", she explained.  
"Well, that's certainly odd"  
"I feel her pain. That is what we share. We share each other's pain. I can feel her grief and torment. Her mind has been locked away by that evil boy. It is only a matter of time before it withers to nothing. And when it does...", she stopped.

"What happens"  
"We die..."

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epicness (love for all my readers)

-peace-


	22. The Sapphire

Created just for Miiake. Thanks for all the support!

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The Immortal

Thus you stand in plainite view

dressed in purest azure

nothing now can beget your grace

with sword in hand you flew

without a moment's notice

you fell upon the foe

with nothing but the finest soul

you settle for greatness

forever you shall live on

even after your mortal body is gone

forever shall you stand true

with the fire burning

inside of you

thus is why; you

Jahlo Teshkondo,

Immortal

Graciarch

shall be far more than just a memory

when the wrath of the dead shall take it's toll


	23. Birds of a Feather

Hey, I'm back! Hope ya didn't miss me too much.

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I did a double-take.  
"Die like...die die? Like straight death? Kaput!", I made a downward motion with my hand.  
She nodded. "Yes, we die"  
"Well, we can't let that happen can we!? We better get a move on then.", I said.  
"Yes, but...what if we can't defeat him?", she sighed.  
"What do you mean? He was defeated before, he can be beaten again"  
"Yes, but...we don't know how powerful those other people were. What if we don't even match up? You saw what he did in the tower.", she turned and began to walk back towards the inn.  
"Hmm...it's worth a shot.", I concluded, "If even only for you and Kaorin's sake"  
"Yes.", she opened the door to the inn with a smile. "What do you think will happen to that man you fought tonight"  
"I think he'll be back...maybe with a different mindset.", I said as we ascended the stairs.

Sakaki nodded and opened the door to our room. I placed Azura on the floor beside my bed as Sakaki and I silently said good night to one another and settled into our own beds. Trying to stay calm despite the various pressures on my mind was killing me. Not only is Kaorin a captive, now Sakaki is in danger. A time limit is imposed on us. Problem is, the time limit isn't very specific. I tried to sleep, yet it was a restless sleep. Eventually dawn broke and I rolled over with a painful sounding moan. Like always, I was the last one awake.

Upon reaching the dining room downstairs it was evident that everyone decided to begin eating without me. Bastards. I pulled up a chair next to Tomo who was already diving deep into her scrambled eggs. Greetings and waves were passed about the table. Even a few mumbles of "Hi, Mr. Prior." were heard through mouths filled with breakfast foods. Yomi tossed me a bagel to nibble on.

"C'mon guys, we gotta hurry up. Time's wasting.", I prodded.  
Tomo thrust her fist into the air. "Yea, let's go"  
Everyone else agreed without question. Even the Soulforged gave a nod. They all felt the same as I did...well...sort of. Sure, I care about Kaorin and all, but now that we have a time limit, I'm all for rushing. Just like that we were up, paid for our stay in a few coins, and out the door into the street. Already, even this early, the streets were bangin'. Acres of people jostled their way through crowds. We were but a few of these.

"Where to?", I asked Azura over the din.  
"Sauromugue Champaign, straight ahead.", he answered.  
The gates that we had originally entered Jeuno through loomed over us as we passed through them and across the massive, water-spanning bridge. We stepped foot once more on the familiar purple dust-covered landscape that was dotted with ruins and pinnacled mountains.

"Is Tu'Lia close by?", I asked Azura.  
"Hell nah. It's quite a walk through the mountains, a forest and an ancient Zilart temple to get to it.", he said.  
"Super.",I mumbled.  
So along the path we went. This was about the most desolate place in the history of creation. There wasn't much to be seen besides stonemasoned ruins, mountains and a few emaciated looking birds here and there. That was until I caught a glimpse of something far different out of the corner of my eye. A wispy black shadow amongst the ruins. As my eyes focused on the decimated building the sight was gone. Shrugging it off I continued my walk, yet a few moments later I noticed it once more. This time I was ready and caught sight of the jet black head of a feathery being. It was a birdman peering at me with small googly eyes that glared down it's downturned beak. Suddenly, it dropped out of sight amongst the rocks once more.

"Is something wrong?", Leslie broke me from my reverie.  
"Yea, I saw something.", I said still looking at the structure. "Over there.", I pointed.  
"Hmm...", she stared at the old ruins. "Maybe it was just a trick of the eye"  
Suddenly her explanationw as interrupted by Yomi and Tomo simultaniously screaming bloody murder.  
"AH! The hell!?", Tomo yelled.  
I turned to see three of the bird-beasts standing before us on the dusty roadway.  
Leslie put her hands to her mouth in fear. "Yagudo"  
The three beasts stood the size of an average man and were covered from head to toe in slick, black feathers. Two Yagudo carrying staves and wearing a red mask with an extended beak flanked a taller, unmasked one that clenched and unclenched it's three-clawed hands.  
We all stood frozen in place for fear of what could be in store. Suddenly, though, Tomo stepped foward to confront the beasts.  
"Hey! Get outta the way ya bastards!", she called.  
The tall Yagudo clacked it's beak. "Wait, smoothskin.", it cawked in a high lilting tone.  
"What did you call me!?", Tomo began before Yomi was forced to drag her by her frock back to the assembled group.  
The Yagudo was silent for a moment. "Smoothskins look for Zilart man? Kaw!", the being croaked.  
"How...?", Leslie said in an awe-filled voice.  
The Yagudo cackled it's tinny voice. "Yagudo no like Zilart man either. Spies in Jeuno send word to Oztroja. Kaw! Say smoothskins want kill Zilart. Kaw! Kuu Teja offer help. Kaw"  
"We don't need any...", Tomo began but Leslie interrupted her violent temper.  
"I thought Yagudo hated all of the creatures of Altana?", Leslie asked.  
"Kaw...", Kuu Teja shook his feathered mane, "Yagudo no like smoothskins because they unbelieve. Yagudo no like Zilart because they destroy Yagudo with no reason. Much worse than smoothskin. Zilart danger. Much danger.", he answered.  
"So, let me get this straight.", I said," You want to help us kill Eald'narche"  
Kuu Teja simply nodded. "Yes, Yagudo know where Zilart man go"  
"There has to be a catch.", I said quickly.  
Kuu Teja seemed to grin even though beaks don't really do that sort of thing. "Yagudo want Zilart man shiny ball"  
"Shiny ball?", I asked. Everyone else looked just as confused as I was.  
"The Astral Candescence.", the Soulforged answered.  
"No...", Leslie said, "No, it's too powerful. It has to be returned to it's rightful place in Al Zahbi"  
The Yagudo cocked a feathery eyebrow. "Do smoothskins wish to die?", he cawed non-chalantly.  
Every member of our force, save the Soulforged, looked nervously at each other. "We'll do it.", I answered without hesitation.  
"What!?", came the outburst from the remaining members of the assemblage.  
"I'll explain later. Trust me.", I whispered.  
"Good.", Kuu Teja said. "The Yagudo wish luck for smoothskins. You fail to keep promise and Yagudo kill. Remember.", he snickered and gave a few cackling orders to the two masked Yagudo beside him. A rushing sound and the sharp stink of mana overcame me as I, and the rest of my travelling coupe, was engulfed within a black portal. Not even a second later I found myself, and the rest of the party, standing in the shadow of enormous trees that covered a vast expanse around us. Except the view in front of us that is. What stood before us were ascending tiers of white cermet. At the pinnacle of these 'steps' was a tall visage, a stout tower with a wide entrance.  
My companions, along with me, stared in awe at this massive complex.  
"Ro'Maeve", Azura whispered almost reverently.  
"Huh?", I asked.  
"Yea, what is that?", Tomo said.  
"Ro'Maeve, the Temple of Desolation. The Hall of the Gods sits atop it. This is the way to Tu'Lia.", Azura answered.  
"Wow..", Tomo and Yomi looked totally amazed at this.  
A moment passed. "You're not really gonna give the Astral Candescence to the Yagudo are you? Cuz if you are I'm gonna have to kill ya.", Azura said.  
"No, no I won't. Don't worry. I'm a master of escape.", I grinned.  
"If you say so.", Azura answered. Yomi sighed.  
We stepped our first careful steps onto the cermet of Ro'Maeve. The place was oddly beautiful. "Ah goddammit.", Tomo cursed. "Stupid stairs are broken"  
Looking to where she was I noticed that the stairway that led directly to the temple at the summit was broken away, leaving a huge hole in the ground.  
"There are other stairs.", Sakaki said. Apparently there were. A set of stairs were positioned on either side of the entrance platform that we were upon.  
"Which one?", I asked no one in particular.  
"They both lead to the same place.", Azura said.  
"Ok, then!", Tomo yelled. She held out the index finger of one hand and spun herself around in a circle until she fell flat on her face.  
"Geez, Tomo.", Yomi said, picking her up.  
"Left!", she announced, pointing to the left-hand stairway.  
Carfully, we descended the stairs, watching for danger, should it approach. Passing through a crumbling gateway Tomo was the first one to spot the tramping monstrosity'  
"Ah! It's one of those...those things!", she alerted us with her incredibly detailed description.  
"Ah, piss.", I cursed once I realized that it was one of those unfriendly doll things that we had met in the tower. It happily clomped through the passageways seemingly oblivious to our presence.  
"Don't worry.", said Azura,"They won't hurt you unless you hurt them"  
"If you say so.",I said before we began walking again. Even though we were told they were harmless, we still walked on eggshells. Passing a few more dolls and through a massive gateway we reached a set of ascending stairs. Climbing them we realized that we had reached the temple atop the complex.  
"The Hall of the Gods.", Azura said as we stood before the immense archway into the hall.  
"Well, let's go!", Tomo prodded us into the tremendous hall. Everything within it seemed alight from within. The cermet of the walls seemed to be almost alive. Blue crystals were set into a small archway as we passed through it. A slight hum came from these wonders, making the hall seem even more foreign.  
"Try it again...no, push that button!", a voice echoed through the vaulted chamber ahead.  
"I did, Sir. Oh, this one.", came a second voice.

And damn, those voices were familiar.

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Hope ya liked it. Comments and such are very much welcome

-peace-


	24. Nautilus

I dunno how fast I ran, but it was pretty damn fast. Those voices, goddamn they were the last things I wanted to hear at the moment.  
A whirr..followed by a clank echoed through the hall.  
"It opened! Altana be praised!", came the deeper, obviously older voice.  
"Hey! Where ya goin'?", Tomo yelled after me.  
I ignored her question and emerged from the small tunnel and into a gigantic vaulted chamber. A raise platform with an odd dias upon it stood in the center while at the far end was a statue of a winged woman in a robe, arms outstretched as if she wanted a hug from the world, made completely of cermet. Other hooded statues were raised up from the silent water that flowed next to the chamber's main passageway. Below the ivory woman was an open doorway, and standing in that doorway, looking at me, was the two people who had been talking earlier.  
"You!", said Jesi, pointing a twitching finger at me.  
"Nice to see you again...Sir.", Beron said with a sneaky little smirk.  
"Gods dammit!", I yelled at them, "What the hell do you think you're doing"  
By this time the others had caught up to me and were standing beside me, simply observing.  
"What do you think?", Beron said cynically, "Protecting the only man who can save us"  
"Oh, for the love of...", I covered my face with my hand in frustration.  
"I can't let you ruin his plans, False King.", Jesi said zealously.  
"If you guys really believe that Eald'narche can save you, you are sadly mistaken.", Yomi spoke up.  
"How would you know, girl?", Beron said venomously.  
"He has our friend held captive!", she nearly yelled.  
"Sometimes we all need to make sacrifices for the greater good.", Beron said and pulled at Jesi's sleeve as they passed through the gateway and into a tunnel.  
"Oh, like hell...", I said as I bolted over the raised dias and into the tunnel. The passage was short and by the time I came to the other end Beron and Jesi were nowhere to be found. What stood before me though was something huge. A aqua green platform let out a glow that illuminated an arraingement of cermet spires. In awe, I approached this device.  
"Don't step on that unless you're ready.", Azura informed me.  
"Oh, I...", I turned as I heard the others approach.  
"Where'd they go!?", Tomo gasped. Yomi looked puzzled as well. Leslie and Sakaki seemed to be in a sort of daze of their own.The Soulforged was well...blank.  
"Umm...", I began looking around, trying to find words to put this all together. Azura did it for me.  
"They're in Tu'Lia now. They took the transporter. You all should too, those guys are nuts"  
"All Right!", Tomo pumped her fast as she not-so-gracefully mounted the glowing platform. "Tomo! Goddammit!", Yomi said, jumping after her friend. She landed face first on the platform and it began to glow viciously with a sort of light that reminded me of the ocean. "Holy shit!", Tomo exclaimed as her and Yomi were somehow transformed into individual balls of light. They floated there for a moment before rocketing straight up a shaft in the ceiling, seemingly propelled by the cermet spires.  
I stood aghast. "That...was SO COOL!", I laughed and jumped into the circle myself.  
"C'mon guys!", I coaxed Sakaki, Leslie, and the dormant Soulforged onto the area as well.  
"Will this hurt?", Sakaki mumbled just before everything went white. I felt the sensation of weightlessness, but it only lasted a moment. The second the feeling ended my vision began to clear. Grabbing my vision at first was the surrounding cermet dome and doors placed into the walls. My attention was quickly grabbed by an outburst from Tomo.  
"Holy fuck! This is awesome! Wheeee!!!", she exclaimed as she traipsed along the strange, transparent floor. Yomi was practically pulling her hair out with every footfall. The moment Tomo's foot struck the barrier floor a bizzare pattern of greenish hexagons splayed itself along the floor before disappearing. She twirled and jumped around, amazed at the oddness she could create. To tell you the truth I was just as pleased. I couldn't help myself either as I praced along the floor, creating patterns of my own. I was lost in glee until Leslie totally ruined it.  
"Tomo, Mr.Prior. This way.", she was standing in one of the doorways. Reluctantly, we stopped our joyous occasion and plodded along the strange floor and onto the cermet. Passing through the white, covered hallway with the others we emerged into the most beautiful place I had seen in a long time.  
"Oh my...", Leslie gasped.  
"Fuckin' hell...", Tomo cursed.  
"Jynark's Armpit hair...", I exclaimed.  
What stood..erm...floated, before us was a sight to behold. The cermet platform on which we had arrived was only one of the many floating islands that dotted the sky before us. Small islands, large islands. The largest of which was in the center and boasted an immense building of some merit at it's exact center. Every islands bore some vegitation. How trees and shrubs could grow at this altitude, much less on this strange cermet structure was beyond me. But at the moment that was the last thing I was thinking of.  
I lowered my eyes from the graceful structure and caught sight of two men standing near another glowing platform. This time it was red, to match their suits no less. Beron and Jesi caught sight of us and smirked.  
"Thank you for telling us where to find Master Eald'narche.", Jesi said with an exaggurated bow.  
"Shut up.", Tomo said simply and let loose a bullet in their direction. The projectile spanked against the ground in front of them and left a small, blackened pit.  
"Oh, resorting to violence I see.", Beron snickered and gave a haughty wave moments before him and Jesi faded from view with the help of the teleportaion machine they had been near.  
"Son of a bitch.", Tomo whined and reholstered her weapon.  
"Better get a move on.", Azura said. "If I were you I'd be trying to beat them to the top of that big 'ol building in the middle"  
"The real big one?", I pointed at the huge main structure that took up most of the area.  
"Yep, get to the top...the Celestial Nexus..."

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Well, there ya go! It's not nearly over with yet though, so keep reading as I post. And, if anyone cares to read more after The Soulforged, I have plans for one last story in this series!

-peace-


	25. Monochrome

All apologies if I ruin the storylines of Rise of the Zilart or Chains of Promathia. And...(knowing smile)..maybe Jahlo will be back...maybe not...youll just have to see, Miiake (grin).

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"Yea, ok, let's goooo!", I threw myself headlong down the slight incline to the teleportation platform. My companions quickly managed to squeeze themselves into that fairly small space moments before we appeared on the other side of the massive air-chasm nearer to the immense building. We arrived downslope of a long open passage that led directly to the massive structure. More importantly, Beron and Jesi were nowhere to be seen. "How the hell did they get away..?", I mused.  
"Those tele-thingys can send you all sorts of strange places around here...since they broke awhile back that is. For all we know it could have sent them straight to the Nexus.", Azura answered.  
"Great...", I said.  
"Hey, look! This is fun!", Tomo was running circles around another of those doll thingys and the doll seemed to ignore her totally. She waved her arms in front of it and at one point clutched onto it's leg as it walked. This action was quickly followed by protests as Yomi dragged her by the frock.  
"Awww..C'mon!! You always ruin my fun"  
"I'll ruin your fun all I want. One day one of those things is going to beat you up.", Yomi said as she placed Tomo back on her feet. the defeated girl pouted and reluctantly complied.  
"So..what is that building?", I asked Azura as we walked towards the passageway.  
"The Shrine of Ru'Avitau...", the Soulforged said.  
"My, my the little lady is smart!", Azura said.  
"Of course. I know much about the workings of the world.", the Soulforged said...in a complex sentence nonetheless.  
"Oh, do you!?", Tomo's curiosity was piqued. "What's the meaning of life!? Huh!? What is it"  
"Tomo, leave her...", Yomi began to interject.  
"There is no true answer to that question. Life is how one percieves it.", the Soulforged answered with a slight lilt to her voice. Like an accent.  
"Ah, poop. A smarty-pants answer.", Tomo frowned.  
As we moved through a set of broken-down doors we entered the passageway proper. Leslie began to shake uncontrollably. She clung to Sakaki's arm for support.  
"What's the matter?", Sakaki asked.  
"The...the magic around here...is so strong..", Leslie's teeth chattered.  
"Are you feeling alright?", Yomi asked.  
"I..I'm fine...I'll be ok..", Leslie shook a bit more, but walked on her own. It was an odd reaction, but I shrugged it off as her being sensitive to mana and such. The passage had high walls with alcoves carved into them. Within the niches were those doll thingys. As we walked past them I couldn't help but feel like they were watching me. Beyond the other side of the passage was the atrium to the Shrine of Ru'Avitau. The building looked even more massive from here. It simply towered over us. The atrium was under an overhanging cermet roof that was supported by many thin pillars. A large gate was carved into the far wall. We stood in awe of this enormous structure.  
"Wow...so..this is the shrine created by the Zilart in order to enter Paradise?", Leslie asked.  
"Got that right. Waaaay at the top...is the Celestial Nexus. The entrance to Paradise.", Azura said.  
Leslie shook again. "We have to hurry. This place feels...not right"  
As we appraoched the main entrance it opened on it's own, sliding to the side, seemingly inviting us to enter.  
"Umm..is that supposed to happen?", I asked Azura.  
"Yea, us Shrinekeepers were lazy so a lot of the doors inside open on their own.", he laughed.  
Grudgingly, we entered. Immediately upon entering the vast foyer, Leslie let out a small yelp and fell shaking into Sakaki's arms. Terribly worried, we rushed to her aid.  
"Are you ok?", I asked. This statment was echoed by absolutely everyone, even the Soulforged.  
"I...I...it feels like someone is whispering in my head...", Leslie gripped Sakaki's furred coat and whimpered.  
"Whispering eh? So you can hear the crystal.", Azura said.  
Leslie opened her eyes in shock. "Huh?", Tomo vocalized what we had all been thinking.  
"One of the Mothercrystals lies atop the Shrine. That supplies the power that allows this structure to float as well as contain enough energy to break the gate into Paradise. It is pure lifeforce that few can feel. Much less hear.", Azura explained.  
"W...why does it feel so evil?", Leslie asked, her voice trembling.  
"Because Eald'narche must be already beginning the opening process. The faster we get up there the better.", Azura said.  
"Can you walk?", Sakaki asked Leslie. Leslie nodded, but since she nearly fell down on her first attempt Sakaki lent Leslie her shoulder to lean on. Azura instructed us to enter a large doorframe upon the right wall of the foyer. We plodded throughout the fairly featureless hallways with enough worries to kill a horse.  
"It's getting louder...", Leslie lamented through clenched teeth.  
"We are getting closer...Only a bit further.", Azura said.  
"It better be close...this walking sucks!", Tomo lamented.  
"The next teleporter should be coming up soon.", Azura said. "It better...", Tomo grumbled.  
Rounding what seemed like the umpteenth corner the room opened to a vast expanse of...more cermet. The welcome sight of one of those odd teleporters is all that made it worthwhile. Oh, that and the two odd little furry things with no eyes and swords floating above them.  
"What...the fuck...?", I exclaimed.  
"Ah, shit...'evil weapons' they're called. Servants of the Zilart from ancient times. They are none too nice.", Azura explained.  
"Can I shoot one!?", Tomo jumped up in excitement.  
"I wouldn't condone it...but..", Azura began.  
"I'll take care of this.", the Soulforged said as she pushed her way past us.  
She drew her sword and faced the gangly creatures. I smiled inwardly at the prospect of seeing this beast of a girl in action once more. The two brutes snarled and dripped a bit of saliva from their mouths. One flicked it's emaciated looking wrist and the sword above it flew straight for the girl. The Soulforged deflected the blow with her weapon and instead of striking that critter, she twirled her left arm in an upward arc, sending a crosswise pattern of magical energy at the other beast. This one was caught off guard and sent careening across the floor. Using this distraction she turned back to the other 'evil weapon'. Thrusing and dodging with the ease of a practiced swordmaster she managed to break past the harsh defence of the creature and throw an accurate thrust straight into it's furred skull. It screamed as green blood sprang forth. Thrashing, it almost dislodged the Soulforged's sword from it's cranium. She retaliated with one of her magics that created a whirlpool of dark matter below the beast. Pure black mana coalesced around the creature as it dissolved into nothingness. This made Tomo clap wildly. The other beast let out a battle cry that sounded like a train wreck. The Soulforged wasted no time in using her vast array of power to literally snip the limbs from the 'evil weapon'. Under her command a small slice of ochre energy quickly caressed each limb of the beast. Moments later the appendaged fell off. Celadon blood spilled across the ivory floor, staining it. The creature screamed it's last and expired. "Impressive", Azura noted.  
Wordlessly, the Soulforged appraoched the teleporter platform.  
"Do we use this?", she asked upon reaching it.  
"Yea, step right up.", Azura instructed.  
Gathering ourselves onto the small device we were whisked away by the pure light of magic and deposited at the end of a cermet hallway leading to a terraceworked gate.  
"Hey! Good luck to us. This is the place.", Azura said.  
Leslie was in Sakaki's arms once more, whimpering pathetically. Poor girl.  
"Well! What we waitin' for!? Let's go!", Tomo lifted her leg high to haughtily march towards the door, but Yomi restrained her by the collar.  
"Not so fast.",she chastised.  
The door opened with a groan and none other than Jesi ran out, panting as the gate slammed shut behind him. He looked at us, eyes wide with fear and sweating like a 400 pound wrestler.  
"Don't go in there.", he said, short of breath.  
"And why not?", I asked quizically.  
"Is Eald'narche there?", Tomo asked.  
Jesi shook his head. "No,...but Kam'lanaut is"  
"How? He's dead.", said Azura.  
Jesi kept panting and staring.  
"The Astral Candescence."

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	26. Behind Space

"Like hell it can bring a dead man back.", Azura spouted at Jesi.  
"It can and it did. Beron saw it in there. It was powering some huge crystal. He walked up to it like he was in a trance. I couldn't stop him no matter what I tried to do. He touched the thing and it seemed like his body was covered in blue flames. A moment later it wasn't him...it was Kam'lanaut standing there. I panicked and ran.", Jesi hung his head.  
"The Astral Candescence is a door to the spirit world. Kam'lanaut's soul must have found a suitible body in Beron.", the Soulforged concluded.  
"Well, let's go kick his ass!", Tomo shouted with enthusiasm.  
"For once I have to agree with her. We can't just stop when we're this close.", Yomi said.  
"Alrighty then.", I nodded.  
"I can't let you go in.", Jesi said, still looking shaken to the core.  
"Oh, like hell. This isn't the time to go defending Eald'narche. Just get out of the way and let us save your godsdamn world!", I chastised Jesi harshly.  
"No, it's not that. I realized that long ago...I just don't want to see our only hope be lost to the power of the Zilart.", Jesi explained.  
"We'll be fine!", Tomo said, thumbs up.  
"No...he's too powerful.", Jesi shook his head.  
"This is our only chance! Please, we have to do this. At least try.", Leslie said with a strained tone.  
Jesi sighed. "Fine, but I'm coming with you." "Your choice.", I shrugged and placed my hand on the tall, latticed doors. I had only just set my hand against the cermet when it easily swung inward to reveal an incredible space. The entrance opened to a downward sloping ramp that ultimately terminated at an enormous blue crystal that seemed to send the sound of tinkling bells into your brain. It slowly rotated at the center of a large platform enclosed on three sides by tall cermet latticework. Before the crystal floated a translucent, glass-like ball that radiated a myriad colours, changing from moment to moment. The room was deserted save for us. At this moment two things occured. Leslie fell to her knees screaming as at the same time Azura became unbearably hot at my side. It was as if he was on fire. The feeling made me jump in alarm. This reaction sent the black metal mace falling to the ground and rolling down the incline towards the crystal. Sakaki tended to the hysterical Leslie as I chased after Azura. He came to a stop near the crystal and took on the shade of sunlight. This repelled me from immediately picking him up as the light became brighter and brighter. I shielded my eyes from the glare, absolutely terrified.  
"Ah! That feels SO much better!", said Azura.  
I opened my eyes to see not the Azura I was used to but instead it was a man. A tall man dressed in robes of a complicated pattern of reds, yellows and blacks. He looked about middle age with only the slightest tinge of gray at the temples of his jet black, well kept hair. His dark eyes regarded me as if I had just seen a ghost.  
"Geez, ya act like you're scarerd of me.", he said. "How...?", I asked.  
"Oh, this. Hah! With the Mothercrystal and the Astral Candescence in such close proximity there must have been enough power to allow me to take a mortal form.", he laughed and walked past me up to the waiting group who greeted him with amazement.

I picked up the now-safe mace with shaking hands and as I stood up the glass ball that was radiating colours caught my eye. I stared directly at it as I moved closer. I could tell it wanted me to touch it. I was entranced and seemingly could not resist the urge to place my left hand against the smooth sphere. As it touched,my mind was immediately flooded with every type of sensory overload.

The Astral Candescence.  
I heard all, I saw all, I tasted, felt, smelled all. It was so fast I could not register everything. Blackness then a sound.  
"Come.", a voice instructed.  
I felt compelled to follow it.  
"Come closer.", it said.  
I complied.  
"Closer"  
I did.  
"Stop!", another voice interceded. A feminine voice.  
I halted my astral travel and listened. A light shone ahead.  
"Remove your hand.", the new voice pleaded.  
I struggled.  
"Now! Before it's too late"  
I recognized.  
"Please, before he is released"  
I willed my physical form to move.  
"No! He's coming!"

The world snapped back into focus. My hand retreated from the orb as I staggered backwards, woozy from my ordeal.  
"Mr. Prior! Mr. Prior are you ok!?", it was Yomi with her hand on my shoulder, a worried look in her eyes.  
"I saw...", I mumbled before the world began to quake. The entire room shood with a force that was not natural. The Astral Candescence took on a light that was piercing and far beyond any mortal ray.

Yomi cried out.  
Leslie screamed.  
Azura said something, but it only registered in my mind as mindless chatter.  
A form took shape. A being of light.  
It dimmed.  
Solidified.  
A man stood before us. His muscled chest shone through the two unbuttoned buttons at the top of the long black coat he wore. His blond hair was like gold as it flowed down his back. He smirked and narrowed his eyes as he came into existance.  
Jesi let out a short cry of dispair.  
"Hey! Kammy! Glad you could make it!", Azura said.  
"Oh, Azura. You're always in my way aren't you?", Kam'lanaut sighed.  
"Of course, it's my job. Now, where's your brother?",Azura asked.  
"Oh, you're a bit too late. He's already headed to the Gate of the Gods. Alas, I was instructed not to let you interfere any further.", Kam'lanaut said.  
"Ha! Sounds like he's scared of us!", I had the audacity to say.  
"Scared, no. Annoyed, yes.", Kam'lanaut said.  
"And what are you going to do to stop us?", my dumbest question ever.  
"Oh, I don't know...", he mumbled moments before he bolted faster than the human eye can see past me. I heard a yelp so I whipped around to see Leslie impaled upon his sword. Where he got the sword from I still don't know.  
Blood poured from the wound and stained her white cloak as she sank to the ground. I growled like a feral animal as I rushed Kam'lanaut with Azura..I mean..my new black mace hefted over my head. As I approached he smirked and batted me away with the flat of his blade. I was sent spinning to the floor. Moments later he swung his weapon in a high arc to catch Sakaki who had almost dug her axe head into his back. She never accomplished that because his sword cut a nice even gouge in her neck, sending blood flying across the white floor. Tomo had been pumping shot after shot into him, yet he seemed unaffected by the bullets as he swiftly disembowled Tomo with his weapon. Her eyes rolled back into her head as she pitched foward into a pool of her own blood. He was just too damn fast. Before he could butcher the rest of us he was bowled over by another quickly moving being. Azura had tackled him and they were now engaged in a wicked combat. Only problem was, Azura couldn't seem to hurt him. No matter if he tried to ignite him aflame, freeze him in ice or any other magical ability, he just couldn't hurt Kam'lanaut. Laughing, Kam'lanaut vaulted into the sky and floated there, looking down upon his treachery.  
"Gods dammit! Come down here!", Azura yelled.  
"Why?", Kam'lanaut smirked, "You can't defeat me"  
"No, but I can.", came a sweet, feminine voice from behind me.  
"Yea, me too.", said another, male voice.  
I turned to see two people standing in front of the glowing Astral Candescence. The female was dressed in this terribly complicated looking light blue dress-like thingy with golden snaps and other decoration scattered about. Her soft white hair was parted in the center and her eyes were locked on Kam'lanaut. A tail twitched between her legs. It was Jahlo, yet somehow she looked different. More regal. The man wore a black and purple striped top, covered by a white breastplate inlaid with emerald stones. His legs were covered by black highboots with other emerald stones sewn into the fabric. He smirked up at Kam'lanaut. It was Sess, yet he also looked like something had happened to him after death. Some transformation had occured.  
"Sess..Jahlo?", I said, not believeing my eyes. They either were ignoring me or couldn't hear me because their eyes were focused on Kam'lanaut and Kam'lanaut only.  
"You dare defy me again?" ,Kam'lanaut grimaced.  
"Only the dead can defeat the dead.", Jahlo said and braced her right arm with her left as she sent a lance of azure light from her hand directly at the floating Kam'lanaut. There was nothing he could do to stop it. His eyes went wide as the beam crashed into him. Smaller points of blue light ricocheted from him and into the walls, leaving horrible scorch marks. This attack must have hurt him terribly because he plummeted to the ground and stood up weakly.

"You can't win.", Sess said.  
Kam'lanaut panted. "If I can't win you're all coming with me then!", he shouted and his weapon took on an evil light. He grinned and used his unholy speed to rush towards Sess and Jahlo. I felt him go past me and that was followed by a sound like ringing bells. A bright blue light shone from the area around Jahlo and Sess.  
Kam'lanaut screamed in pain.  
"Only the dead can defeat the dead.", Sess repeated as Kam'lanaut began to glow brightly. Through the light I could see he was impaled upon a blade of pure sapphire light. Over the increasing din of the bell sound Kam'lanaut screamed again.  
"IT IS TOO LATE"  
"It is never too late.", Jahlo said.  
A wash of light passed over us. Wave after wave followed. The immense power released seemed to press me to the ground. I couldn't see any longer. Eventually I believe I simply passed into unconciousness.

When I awoke I expected to be dead. What I saw was close enough though. Below me was the ground. I seemed to by lying on a thin, transparent sheet of something or other. In the distance there was a building. A massive cermet structure. The one I had seen in my dream back in Jeuno. I was alone. Alone near the Gate of the Gods. 


	27. Starguard

Soory this took so long, the end is nigh!

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Still dazed from the massive release of energy within the Celestial Nexus, my legs wobbled and I couldn't even see straight. The only thing I knew was that I was alone and the tremendous structure in the distance was my goal. The area was the strangest thing I had seen in a while. The air had a blueish cast to it and the ground was transparent. Every step made it bend as if it wasn't totally solid. Like walking on a waterbed or something. My head throbbed and that made the area seem even more bizzare. I didn't walk so much as lumbered towards the far off complex. All the while it seemed as if voices were whispering in my head. I don't know if this was a real phenomena or just a side efect from my heavy fatigue. I was tired. Tired, burnt out and in pain from various wounds I had recieved. I couldn't believe that I was even walking. I had two hopes at the moment: that I would run into my compainions along the way and they would all be safe and sound, or that they were all just as mind-numbingly smart as I and had walked themselves to the cermet building. As a matter of fact I wondered if half of them were even still alive. After the vicious attack by Kam'lanaut I only hoped that Sakaki, Tomo and Leslie hadn't been mortally wounded. Even though it looked as such. All I could do though was stare at the towering structure ahead of me and keep walking.

"What dossst thou want...from thisss sssacred ground?", a hissing voice said from beside me.  
"Wha!? Who's there? Show yourself!", I spun in a complete circle yet no one was to be seen.  
"What...dossst thou want here?", the voice asked from the air itself.  
"I'll tell you when I can see you!", I yelled into the sky.  
"Ssssso be it...", it said and out of pure atmosphere coalesced the form a faintly ethereal, glowing, nearly white, but not quite being. It had membranous wings on it's back, but it did not use them to stay aloft. It's legs were short and crunched back into it's body. The arms extended past the legs and ended in claws. It's head was small. Eyes recessed. Mouth, nothing but a slit. It was like some sort of perverted angel.  
"I sssshow myself, answer the quessstion human.", it said without moving it's mouth.  
I didn't fear it. I was too tired to fear it. "I dunno how I ended up here, but now I'm looking for my friends. That's it.", I said.  
"Friendsss..humansss too?", it said.  
"Yes! Five girls and one man. Have you seen them?", I was excited, of course.  
"I asssk them ssame quesstionss. Ansswer ssame asss you.", it said.  
"Where are they!?", I grappled with my emotions. Right now I just wanted to find them and get the hell out of here.  
"Gate of Godsss", it pointed one claw finger across the landscape at the towers in the distance.  
"They went inside!?", I asked.  
"Very important man-friend, let them in.", the being said.  
"Azura?", I asked,"The man in the robes"  
"No...a young man.Yellow...hairss", the thing answered.  
This was bad. The only 'young man with yellow hair' I had met here had be Eald'narche. He was most definately leading them on. Hell of a lot of good that does me. "I need to get there!", I practically yelled.  
"Yesss...allow me to..tesst your virtue.", it said.  
"Wha...?", I began to question.  
At that moment it felt as if my head was being assaulted by an entire colony of Belkirk beetles. It was like a wicked sting to my brain. My entire mind collapsed for a moment before reforming. The haze of my eyes cleared and I looked up at the being.  
"You carry much...worry..in your heart.", it told me.  
"Cut the shit.", I said, quite purturbed, "Are you going to show me the way or not"  
The thing paused.  
"As you wisssh.", it slurred.  
All I did was blink and I was no longer where I was before. Instead of the vast expanse of ground and the towers in the distance, I was before a massive doorway recessed into the immense cermet building. I began to feel extreme fear, for no apparent reason. I couldn't stop myself from shaking.  
"All you need, isss to sstep through the portal.", the thing spoke from the bare air.  
I tried to move, but my fear prevented me.  
"I..I can't.", I admitted.  
"Fear isss powerful.", the voice said.  
"H..how do I overcome the fear?", I asked.  
"You know the anssswer...", the voice told me.  
Strangely enough, I did know the answer. I only had to think of my purpose. My entire reason for continuing this epic travel. If my friends didn't matter to me I wouldn't have gone this far, suffered through so much. Grief, pain, fatigue, uncertainty. All these to end up here. For what? So that I could save someone that I had sworn to protect. I wouldn't let that promise go to waste here. With my teeth gritted I began to move. Far more confident than I was before. I had realized what I had to do. My determination beat out the massive taste of fear. The vestibule of the building was an array of nearly translucent celadon arches. Every surface shined as if metallic. The floor seemed well polished as well. The door at the far end of the small vestibule was open wide, yet I could not see where it lead. Cautiously, I approached. A scream pierced the air and echoed off the arched rafters of the room. The scream was immediately recognizable. Leslie. She was at least alive. For the moment. I pumped my tired legs to reach the doorway. Racing through, I saw that the battle against Eald'narche had already begun. Eald'narche was levitating above the ground, his eyepatch removed to reveal a deep purplish glowing pit where his left eye should have been. He looked ungodly angry as he grimaced at Leslie who was being held standing by Sakaki. The rest of my companions were scattered about the large hall. All standing on their own two feet, so at least that was refreshing. It was then that I noticed the form of Kaorin slumped against an inhumanly tall shining door at the far end of the room.  
I screamed, "Your fight is with me"  
Eald'narche looked in my direction. "About time you showed up.", his voice seemed doubled, maybe tripled.  
"Mista' Prior! Get outta here!", a lilting, familiar voice called out to me.  
"Ayumu...?", I looked beyond Eald'narche to see the speaker.  
I have no idea why I had not noticed this earlier. The speaker was undoubtably Ayumu Kasuga. Known as Osaka to her friends. Yet, she was dressed like a blue mage. It clicked. She was the Soulforged. Had this not ben so dramatic of a situation, this revalation would have floored me. How could someone so airheaded by the most powerful blue mage ever eluded my grasp, but this was not the time to think about that.  
"Leave Mista' Prior! Ah can handle 'em!", she said to me.  
Eald'narche grinned an evil grin. What else is new.  
"If he says my fight is with him...SO BE IT!!", he yelled the last part as his body released a coloured wave of energy. Strangly, I seemed unaffected by it. My companions, on the other hand, seemed to be having trouble moving.  
"Gah! I can't move!", Tomo yelled as she struggled to move her feet.  
Eald'narche cackled. "You and me now, Prior...I have enough honour to give you the chance to fight before I finish my ascent to godhood"  
I gulped a lump in my throat and gripped the mace that once contained Azura's spirit in my sweaty palms. To thell the truth, I was scared to death, as I'm sure anyone else would be. Yet somehow, I need to do this. I glanced over to Azura. He just looked at me, expressionless.  
"This is it then.", I said directly to Eald'narche.  
"Yes, Starguard. The end. For you. For your friends. A new age is upon Vana'diel. That age is me!", echoed the voice of Zilart prince Eald'narche.

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stay tuned for the epic conclusion to The Soulforged! Details on the final installment of the Fated to Live series in the next, and final chapter.

-peace-


	28. Requiem

Here we go! The final chapter!

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When someone, no matter who they are, calls you something as strange as 'Starguard' you kinda want to ask what that is supposed to mean. Oh, how that want tiggled at my mind as I braced for battle with the Zilart prince. The definition didn't matter at the moment. Only the moment mattered.  
"BEGONE!", Eald'narche screamed as a lance of orchre light erupted from his fingertips. I managed, with some difficulty, to sidestep this assault and allow it to burn a massive scorch mark into the shined floor.  
What I was really at a lack of was what to do. He floated above the floor and I had no way of reaching him. I had no ranged weapon and a certainly wasn't skilled at magic. I had tried magic before. My healing magic was terrible. My attack magic was worse and summoning is what really got me in trouble, but that's another story.

He laughed. "Oh, simply annihilating you is no fun. Let us make this more fair.", he set his feet upon the ground again and from between the fingers of both hand emerged blades of pure energy. He held these like long daggers.  
"You are lucky to even be here, Starguard. If the Astral Candescence had not reacted with my poor brother and the Mothercrystal, Vana'diel would already have been under my rule.", Eald'narche explained.  
"Why do you keep calling me Starguard?", I asked, panting.  
He just smirked and ran at me, those daggers flashing. One of the daggers was parried by my mace with an audible crackle and the ozone-like stink of mana. The other I could do nothing about as it raked a long, cauterized wound into my upper arm. I stepped back and gripped this wound for a moment. It burned a bit, but the adrenaline had already flooded my bloodstream so the pain quickly dissipated.  
"It is almost sad. Poor Starguard won't be able to taste the greatness of Paradise.", Eald'narche said before once more taking a half-hearted swing at me with his energy knives. These attacks I blocked easily. I was getting sick of his playing around. "Maybe I don't want to taste Paradise yet.", I said and threw a great amalgamam of mace blows that broke his defences easier than I would have expected. One blow landed across his right shoulder and sent him literally careening across the room. Such a blow normally would not have had such a dramatic effect. Hence my inference that I had just landed something beyond a normal strike. As Eald'narche came to a stop his blades faded away. Seemingly unfazed, he stood up and brushed his cloak off.

"Alright, Starguard. Enough playing around. Now you die by my hands!", Eald'narche took on a bizzare greenish cast not unlike the surrounding floor and ceiling. This pseudo glow encompassed his entire form so he was no longer visable to my eyes. From that metallic prison emerged a new, improved Lord Eald'narche. He looked very similar, but he was now in the form of an adult. His left eye had darkened from purple to a deep, abysmal black. He still retained his ominous grayish robe that seemed to transform along with him in order to fit his new body.  
"About time.", he said, "With the Astral Candescence destroyed, my black magicite was able to finally reach it's full potential and allow me my real body back"  
"I bet you're happy.", oh, what an ideal time to be sarcastic. My mouth can't shut itself sometimes.  
"Poor Starguard. You tried so hard to get rid of me. It is to no avail though. It is too late to win now so please, just die nicely.", Eald'narche said as if he was talking to a kid.

I swallowed hard. Maybe he was right. Maybe it was too late. With me as the only one who could do anything at the moment, I was far less powerful than the Soulforged. I didn't know if I could win. Hell, I was sure I was a dead man. I was sure that Vana'diel was dead as well.  
"No, Eald'narche. It is not too late.", said a mature womanly voice. Eald'narche, seemingly as confused as I, looked to see the source of this radiant sound. Standing before the oddly glowing doorway was Kaorin. Dressed in the same robes as Azura wore, yet her eyes betrayed the fact that she was not herself at the moment.  
"Who are you to say such a thing, girl!?", Eald'narche raged.  
"The prophecy is fulfilled, Eald'narche.", Kaorin spoke in a voice not her own.  
"It is not!", he raged, "The Starguard is only one of the four to appear"  
"A falsification of your own mind. All four exist and are here.", the woman said through Kaorin's mouth.  
"Prove it.", Eald'narche gritted his teeth.  
"Release the blue mage girl from your spell.", he was instructed by the woman.  
He gave her one acidic glance and waved his arm to release the Soulforged, erm...Osaka, from his spell. She teetered on her feet before taking a step. "Ah, that feels betta.", she said.  
"What is your name?", blurted out the woman inside Kaorin's body.  
"Ah, Kaorin you know mah name. Don't be silly.", Osaka responded. The woman sighed.  
"What is your name, girl?", she asked again.  
"Kaorin yer actin' wierd. Did the aliens getcha?", Osaka said.  
"Girl! Tell me your name!", the woman raged.  
"Ah fine. I'm Ayumu Kasu..", she was interrupted by the woman again.  
"THE NAME THE IMMORTALS CALLED YOU!", the woman yelled, exasperated.  
"The Immortals?", she cocked her head to the side. "Don't waste my time.", Eald'narche said with a smirk. The woman ignored him.  
"Yes! The Immortals! The blue mages!", the woman explained angrily.  
"You mean the pretty kitty lady?", Osaka said.  
"Yes! What did the Graciarch call you!?", she said.  
"Ah, ya shoulda said so earlier. They called me tha Soulforged or summin' like that.", Osaka finally said what the woman wanted to hear.  
"Impossible. A girl that foolish could never be the Soulforged.", Eald'narche said caustically.  
"Hey, that's mean...", Osaka pouted.  
"Alas, she is, Eald'narche. You've seen her powers.", the woman said.  
"The Graciarch is certainly not here! There is no Mithra amongst this bunch!", Eald'narch said.  
"The Graciarch is within you.", the woman responded.  
"This is foolish! Get out of my way! Immortality awaits!", Eald'narche shrugged off the woman's comment and made a rush for the glowing door. He was laughing triumphantly as he ran, Kaorin's body stood still, eyes on him. I thought about trying to stop him. That was until his body began to fall apart before my eyes. He seemed not to register the fact that from his legs ascending, he was literally falling to pieces. He laughed as he placed his hands upon the door. he gave it one last loving gaze before his entire body simply drifted away into particles too small to be seen. A black stone clattered to the polished floor.  
"What just...happened?", I asked, head cocked.  
"His greed and disbelief destroyed him.", the woman answered. She walked over and picked up the stone from the ground.  
With his disappearance his spell on my companions must have broken because Sakaki was the first one to reach me.  
"What are you doing in Kaorin's body!? Explain yourself!", she said angrily.  
"Do not worry Miss Sakaki. I am not malevolent. I will leave as soon as this situation is resolved.", the woman answered.  
"Who are you anyhow?", I asked.  
She gazed at me. "I protect this world and everything in it. Very often I act from afar, but at this moment I feared the worst for the inhabitants of Vana'diel and took the situation into my own hands.", she answered.  
Azura and Leslie fell to their knees and said in unison, "We are not worthy to gaze upon you Great Mother of Vana'diel"  
The woman smiled with Kaorin's mouth.  
"Do not grovel. Stand before me, for we are equals.", she said.  
"Is it really over?", Azura asked.  
"Almost.", she responded and crushed the black stone in her fist into literal powder. Moments later wisps emerged from this powder and ascended into the air and through the roof. I recognized these as spirit forms. The faces and upper bodies of the people were clearly visable. Every race upon this world was present in the floating forms.  
"Are those...spirits?", Leslie asked.  
"Yes, all the spirits that Eald'narche was involved in the deaths of.", the woman said.  
Two forms passed overhead that bore a striking resemblance to two of our lost companions. Apparently I wasn't the only one to notice this.  
"Is that Yukari and Chiyo-chan?!", Yomi pointed at the two spirits of the little girl and disgruntled teacher.  
"Yes, those are your friends' spirits.", the woman responded.  
"They're dead!? THEY'RE DEAD!?", Yomi raged.  
"Do not worry. All these spirits are returning to their rightful homes. Your friends will be returned to Earth, their bodies fully restored.", the woman said.  
"And you're sure of this?", Sakaki asked.  
"Yes, I am very sure.", said the woman.  
She dumped the dust onto the floor after the last spirit emerged, where the dust then dissolved into nothingness. She approached our assembled group.  
"To you Koyomi Mizuhara, I give the Light of Al'Taieu for your selfless compassion throught this endeavour.", she then inscribed a complex rune upon Yomi's forehead in pure light. The light faded soon after as if it was absorbed into her skin.  
"Umm...thank you...very much.", Yomi blushed and lowered her head.  
"To you Tomo Takino, I grant you the Light of Holla for your extreme displays of courage throught this task.", the woman repeated the rune carving.  
"Hey, thanks. That was cool.", Tomo said while rubbing at her forehead.  
"To you Sakaki Koyoshi, I grant you the Light of Mea for your unwavering trust in your companions.", the ritual was once again repeated.  
"Thank you.", Sakaki said simply and cracked a loving smile.  
"To you The Soulforged, Ayumu Kasuga, I grant the Light of Dem for your unbridled search for justice in this pressing matter.", she drew upon Osaka's head with her finger.  
"Thank ya.", Osaka said and tilted her eyes upward as if trying to see her forehead.

"It is about time you returned to your own planet, girls.", the woman stated.  
A few moans followed, but all four came to the conclusion that it was for the better to return home. Osaka broke from the group and hugged me tightly around my midsection. I placed my arms around the girl's shoulders and squeezed her a bit as well.  
"Imma miss you Mista Prior!", tears welled in her eyes.  
"I think we'll all miss him.", Yomi said. Affirming nods followed from the other girls.  
"Come visit again sometime!", Tomo yelled and waved.  
"If I can, I will.", I confirmed.  
"I shall now return you four to Earth. I will return this girl's body to her rightul place as well as soon as I have finished my work. You have all done well, be proud.", the woman said as smiled abounded between the four girls. The woman in Kaorin's body waved her hand and the four girls were engulfed in light and soon faded from view leaving Leslie, Kaorin, Azura, and I.

The woman turned to us.  
"Azura, you have proven yourself. You are worthy of entering Paradise. Are you ready to move on?", she asked.  
Azura paused and looked at me and Leslie. A smile cracked his slightly rough features.  
"No, I wish to return to my weapon. I want to assist Prior in his travels.", he stated.  
Kaorin's face registered shock.  
"You do not wish to join me in Paradise"  
"No, I am sorry Great Altana. I wish to return to the weapon I was placed into.", he answered.  
Altana paused.  
"Very well.", she made a simple gesture and Azura's full form was reduced to a glowing pinpoint of light before rushing into the mace that hung at my side.  
"Ah...this is comfy.", Azura said from my side.  
"Starguard, Leslie Utovan.", Altana addressed us. We stood at attention.  
"Yes, Great Altana?", Leslie said.  
She walked to us and took Leslie's hand, leading her towards the glowing doorway.  
"I am leaving soon", Altana said, "When I take my leave I want you to read Ber'shakk's Lexicon before this doorway"  
"Y..you want me to seal this portal?", Leslie seemed to shake.  
"Yes, and when you do this plane will collapse for it is not present on Vana'diel itself. You will then be deposited wherever in Vana'diel it happens to correspond with at that moment. Do not worry, you will not come to harm." Altana smiled gently.  
"Yes, Great Mother.", Leslie said and began to unfurl the scroll of Ber'shakk's Lexicon.  
"You are all very brave, be proud of what you have done.", Altana said and was then gone in the blink of an eye. Leslie stumbled only a moment before beginning to speak the spidery archaic words written on the scroll.  
"Ber'nal iksar del'chos nildem"  
The shine of the door dimmed.  
"Kello nik'sal nerdevnik"  
It went dark.  
"Shiakk del'nar untolovik"  
The world shimmered.  
Trees peeked through the dissolving world.  
We descended.

Hey, was that any good? Man, my hand is cramped from all that writing and I'm not even done! Another adventure awaits us. Don't miss out...I know you won't...I hope...I'm sure you don't want to disappoint poor 'ol Prior do ya? Of course not! So keep reading!

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How was that? I hope you all enjoyed it! Thanks Miiake for the support and I hope you read my next story too!

The next installment is another FFXI based tale that shall be called "Time Stands Still" Don't miss out!

peace out for now,

-Jay


	29. Alternate Ending: Terra Midron

**This was the original ending I had chosen for "The Soulforged". For one reason or another I changed it to what it is in the chapter "Requiem". So, I decided to let you all see what the ending WOULD have been had I not changed it. Tell me what you think!**

**-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

"This is foolish! Get out of my way! Immortality awaits!", Eald'narche shrugged off the woman's comment and made a rush for the glowing door. He was laughing triumphantly as he ran, Kaorin's body stood still, eyes on him. I thought about trying to stop him. That was until his body began to fall apart before my eyes. He seemed not to register the fact that from his legs ascending, he was literally falling to pieces. He laughed as he placed his hands upon the door. he gave it one last loving gaze before his entire body simply drifted away into particles too small to be seen. A black stone clattered to the polished floor.  
"What just...happened?", I asked, head cocked.  
"His greed and disbelief destroyed him.", the woman answered. She walked over and picked up the stone from the ground.  
With his disappearance his spell on my companions must have broken because Sakaki was the first one to reach me.

"What are you doing in Kaorin's body!? Explain yourself!", she said angrily.  
"Do not worry Miss Sakaki. I am not malevolent. I will leave as soon as this situation is resolved.", the woman answered.

"Who are you anyhow?", I asked.  
She gazed at me.  
"I am part of this world. I oversee all that goes on within and without. I usually act from afar, but this time I took the situation into my own hands.", she answered.  
Azura and Leslie fell to their knees and said in unison, "We are not worthy to gaze upon you,Great Mother of Vana'diel"  
Kaorin's mouth broke into a smile.  
"It is alright, but please, step through this door with me.", the woman said, motioning towards the massive, glowing doorway.  
Leslie and Azura both got to their feet and intoned, "Anything you desire, Great Mother"  
We proceeded in a group towards the portal and stood before it's enormity. The celadon glow it gave off made me feel a bit sick to my stomach.  
Kaorin reached her hand towards the doorway and began to speak archaic words of magic.  
Suddenly, Sakaki encircled her wrist with her slender fingers and pulled Kaorin's hard from the door.  
"What are you doing?", the woman said with a smile.  
"I can't let you do this.", Sakaki siad.  
"And why not?", the woman asked.  
Something flashed through the air. Kaorin recoiled and pulled from Sakaki's grip. It was only after everything was still did I notice that Sakaki had cut Kaorin's hand off at the wrist. The appendage lay still upon the ground. Strangest thing was, there was no blood at all.  
"Sakaki!? What the hell are you doing?", Yomi yelled.  
"I know what I'm doing. She is evil.", Sakaki pointed out.  
"I am not!", Kaorin's voice had changed back to that of her own.  
"Sakaki! How dare you strike Great Altana!", Leslie looked very angry at this slight towards her goddess.  
"She isn't here to help us.", Sakaki said, never taking her eyes from Kaorin.  
"Mi..Miss Sakaki..I only wanted to help.", Kaorin said.  
"Don't try to fool me! You aren't even bleeding. I knew I felt something different about you.", Sakaki said.  
Kaorin smirked.  
"You're a smart girl, you know that?", Kaorin said.  
Sakaki held her hand axe tighter. Even I took a hold of my weapon.  
"That can't stop me though.", Kaorin took a step foward only to be knocked onto her back by a large blast of energy from Azura.  
"Sakaki is right. This isn't Altana. I have no idea what the hell it is.", Azura explained.  
"Azura, you should know better than anyone who I am.", Kaorin said, getting to her feet. Her voice seemed to be coming in multiples now.  
"STAY DOWN!!", Tomo screamed and shot Kaorin six times across the chest in rapid succession. No blood oozed from these wounds across her breast. Holes in her black, yellow and red robe is all that shown. She turned the black stone that had come from Eald'narche over and over in her single palm.  
"Maybe you'll be the first to join your friends in the hereafter Miss Takino.", Kaorin smirked.  
"Huh?", lo and behold, Tomo was confused.  
"You know. Yukari...little Chiyo...", Kaorin mused.  
"What...? You mean...?", Yomi was aghast.  
"You're a bastard! Using her body like a tool!", Sakaki raged.

"It was only a matter of time before a suitable vessel came along. Using Eald'narche to get this far was part of my plan as well. Now, with his black magicite I can finally return triumphant!", the many voices of Kaorin echoed throughout the chamber.

"It...it can't be..", Azura whispered.  
"Oh, Shrinekeeper. It can be, and it has. Finally, I can rule amongst the stars once more!", Kaorin's eyes took on an ominous look.  
"What's going on...?", Tomo asked.  
"Allow me to show you.", Kaorin said as the air became heavy, it was incredibly difficult to breathe with what seemed like poison seeping into my lungs. I knew it wasn't poison, it was simply the crackle of mana.  
Our surroundings became the stars. Our ground became space time itself. Far below could be seem a slowly rotating planet. Vana'diel.  
Kaorin still stood before us, only that her robe was gone. In it's place was a skintight white outfit that looked as if it was alive. Blue lighed poured from the joints of the suit.  
"Wh...who are you?", Sakaki stumbled over her words.  
Kaorin chuckled.  
"I already told you. I am part of this world. I see all. I hear all. Now, I have to once again posess my right to act upon this world my dream of creation!", she explained.  
"No, this isn't right.", Leslie whimpered.  
"You got that right.", Azura said before rushing towards the posessed girl.  
His attempt at attack was stopped short by Kaorin, who threw him to the grid-matrix floor with a wave of her hand.  
"PROMATHIA! STOP THIS FOOLISHNESS!", Azura raged as he stood up once more.  
"Promathia...", Leslie gasped.  
"Who's Promathia?", Tomo asked.  
"He is our doom.", was all that Leslie could say.

"Azura, how about you stop? My time has come once more. The black magicite and this girl have enabled me to access my true body once more and rule Vana'diel. Only you fools are preventing me from reaching my true form.", Promathia explained.  
Skakaki hadn't moved, yet her fingers were once more curling and uncurling around the shaft of her axe.  
"You were chained for a reason,Promathia!", Azura said.  
"Foolishness! Altana was jealous of my image of beauty.", Promathia answered.  
Sakaki took a small step foward.  
"At least let the girl go!", Azura said.  
Promathia shook his head. "No, no, no. I need this body. Afterwards, I will dispose of it how I see fit"  
Sakaki took another step.  
"Kaorin is an innocent girl.", Azura explained.  
"She is my key to victory. I will use her as I please. She is quite the cute little thing.", he laughed and ran Kaorin's own hand down her own body. Feeling her form perversely.  
This must have set Sakaki off because she bolted faster than I had ever seen her move towards Promathia. Her ebony hair fluttered behind her as she sent an axe blow that crashed into the side of Promathia. The body was sent flying across the matrix of space time and landed a few feet away.

"Get up and fight, you bastard!", Sakaki choked out.  
"As you wish.", Promathia smirked and got to his feet.  
Azura backed up towards us and whispered.  
"Read the Lexicon, now"  
Promathia landed a crushing blow to Sakaki's chest that sent her flailing.  
Leslie shuffled through her pockets and retrieved the scroll that Verechant had handed us.  
Sakaki, bleeding and beaten, parried Promathia's swinging punch and managed to crack his armour across the front with a well placed axe smash.  
Leslie undid the wax seal and pulled the scroll tightly open.  
Promathia struggled with Sakaki, who was beginning to look pale and weak.  
Leslie stood a few steps from the raging battle and began to read.  
"Prior, activate your device.", Azura told me, not looking at me.  
"But..what about..?", I began.  
"Don't worry.", Azura said.  
I trusted this man with my life so I pulled the device from my pocket for the first time this entire trip. I pushed a few buttons and it shone bright blue.  
"Ber'nal iksar del'chos nildem.", Leslie read.  
Sakaki landed the first axe stroke across Promathia's chest. For the second she spun 360 degrees and planted a blow across his left arm. Light shone from the blade of her weapon as she landed the third and final blow that sent Promathia wheeling across space and he landed hard upon his back.  
My device shone brighter as it began it's familiar hum.  
"Sakaki! Quickly, come here!", Yomi yelled to the aldrenaline rushed girl.  
"Kello nik'sal nerdevnik.", Leslie spoke the next line.  
Promathia had gotten to his feet. The eyes of Kaorin blazed with an unholy light.  
"Death! Death to you all!", Promathia screamed as the hands of Kaorin began to glow with a fierce light.  
"Sakaki! Get out of the way!", Azura yelled.  
"No, I stay where I am!", Sakaki said.  
The green mist that preceeded my teleportation formed around Osaka, Yomi, Tomo, and I.  
"Shiakk del'nar untolovik!", Leslie spoke the final line of the spell.  
The green mist engulfed the three girls and I as I saw my final moments upon Vana'diel.  
The stars fell from the sky. Their contrails illuminating space. "MISS SAKAKI!!!", Osaka yelled moments before we disappeared, for good reason too.  
Sakaki had thrown herself headlong in front of the oncoming blasts from Promathia.

I can't be quite sure, but I believe I saw a woman, clothed in pure azure, standing behind Sakaki. Protecting her.

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**Had I actually used this ending, the next story would have been one I was going to call "Firestorm" and would have been totally different from "Time Stands Still". I may still write "Firestorm" sometime in the future. Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed this!**

**-peace-**

**-Jay**


End file.
